Our words holy and holiness
come from the Hebrew (qadosh
and qodesh) from the Greek
(hagios, hagiosyne) and the Latin
(sanctitas, sacer, sanctus).
Essentially holy
means what is
divine and pertains to God. It is His most intimate
essence
in which He radically
transcends all that is created; totally Other.
Holiness extends to whatever is in relationship
with the divine;
it includes the idea of separation and opposition to what is
profane and common; it expresses the idea of belonging to
or being possessed by God.