Definition of "reliquary" [rel•i•qua•ry]

• A receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This reliquary is a product of the monastic workshop of St. Maurice d'Agaune."
• ""There was a gold chain with a cross, and what you call a reliquary about her little neck, and a scroll written in cipher among her swaddling bands; but they are laid up at home, at Bridgefield.""
• "A reliquary is a container that houses the remains or other relic of a saint and the use of the term here reminds those gathered within these walls that they are holy and precious to God."