means A place of refuge and safety, often a holy or protected space where one is shielded from harm or pursuit.

from From Latin sanctuarium, meaning a sacred or holy place, built on sanctus, 'holy' (the same root that gives us 'saint' and 'sanctify'). It entered English through Old French in the medieval period. The legal sense — where a fugitive could claim protection within a church and not be seized — grew from the idea that consecrated ground belonged to a higher authority than the king's law, so even officers of the crown had to pause at the threshold.