shrine

n. [ OE. schrin, AS. scrīn, from L. scrinium a case, chest, box. ] 1. A case, box, or receptacle, especially one in which are deposited sacred relics, as the bones of a saint. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any sacred place, as an altar, tromb, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

Too weak the sacred shrine guard. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A place or object hallowed from its history or associations; as, a shrine of art. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Short for
Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a secret fraternal organization professedly originated by one Kalif Alu, a son-in-law of Mohammed, at Mecca, in the year of the Hegira 25 (about 646 a. d.) In the modern order, established in the United States in 1872, only Knights Templars or thirty-second degree Masons are eligible for admission, though the order itself is not Masonic. A member of the order is popularly called a Shriner, and the order itself is sometimes called the Shriners. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]