dedicate v
1. give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; "She committed herself to the work of God"; "give one's talents to a good cause"; "consecrate your life to the church" [syn: give, consecrate, commit, devote]
2. open to public use, as of a highway, park, or building; "The Beauty Queen spends her time dedicating parks and nursing homes"
3. inscribe or address by way of compliment; "She dedicated her book to her parents"
4. set apart to sacred uses with solemn rites, of a church

Dedicate \Ded"i*cate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dedicated; p. pr. & vb. n. Dedicating.]
1. To set apart and consecrate, as to a divinity, or for sacred uses; to devote formally and solemnly; as, to dedicate vessels, treasures, a temple, or a church, to a religious use. Vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, . . . which also king David did dedicate unto the Lord. --2 Sam. viii. 10, 11. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. . . . But in a larger sense we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. --A. Lincoln.
2. To devote, set apart, or give up, as one's self, to a duty or service. The profession of a soldier, to which he had dedicated himself. --Clarendon.
3. To inscribe or address, as to a patron. He complied ten elegant books, and dedicated them to the Lord Burghley. --Peacham. Syn: See Addict.

Dedicate \Ded"i*cate\, p. a. [L. dedicatus, p. p. of dedicare to affirm, to dedicate; de- + dicare to declare, dedicate; akin to dicere to say. See Diction.] Dedicated; set apart; devoted; consecrated. ``Dedicate to nothing temporal.'' --Shak. Syn: Devoted; consecrated; addicted.

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Dedication is the act of consecrating an altar, temple, church or other sacred building. It also refers to the inscription of books or other artifacts when these are specifically addressed or presented to a particular person. This practice, which once was used to gain the patronage and support of the person so addressed, is now only a mark of affection or regard. In law, the word is used of the setting apart by a private owner of a road to public use.

The Feast of Dedication also called "Feast of the Maccabees" was a Jewish festival observed for eight days from the 25th of Kislev (i.e. month of December). It was instituted by Judas Maccabeus, his brothers, and the elders of the congregation of Israel, in the year 165 B.C. in commemoration of the reconsecration of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, and especially of the altar of burnt offering, after they had been desecrated in the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes (168 BC). The significant happenings of the festival were the illumination of houses and synagogues, a custom probably taken over from the Feast of Tabernacles, and the recitation of Psalm 30:1-12 HE. J. Wellhausen suggests that the feast was originally connected with the winter solstice, and only afterwards with the events narrated in Maccabees.

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