santo

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noun

A wooden or ivory statue of a saint, angel or other religious figure, found in Spain and former Spanish colonies.

OriginSpanish santo ← Old Spanish santo ← Latin sānctus →
Less commonScrabble 5
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Meanings

santo1

nounsanto (plural santos)

plural santos

  1. artA wooden or ivory statue of a saint, angel or other religious figure, found in Spain and former Spanish colonies.

    A santo may get a new coat of paint on its feast day or at Christmas. Or sometimes, when a prayer has been granted, a Puerto Rican repays his santo with a fresh coat of paint.

    1972, Shirley Glubok, The Art of the Spanish in the United States and Puerto Rico

Santo2

proper nounSanto (plural Santos or Santoes)

plural Santos · plural Santoes

  1. A surname from the Romance languages.

Origin

santo · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*seh₂k-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*sh₂nékti
  3. Proto-Italic*sankiō
  4. Proto-Italic*sanktos
  5. Latinsānctus
  6. Old Spanishsancto
  7. Old Spanishsanto
  8. Spanishsanto
  9. Englishsanto

Borrowed from Spanish santo.

More words from Spanish

Full word history & related roots →

Santo · proper noun

  1. RomanceSanto
  2. EnglishSanto

From Romance.

More words from Romance

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

astonStano
Cite this entry
APA

santo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/santo

MLA

“santo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/santo. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “santo,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/santo.

Source: santo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.