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This question "Difference between saint, holy and sacred" has made me think whether we can use the noun "sanctity" to speak about things or people that/who are already holy, sacred, or saint.

For instance:

  • The sanctity of this sacred temple has attracted many tourists.
  • The scripts in this holy book are sanctity to the keepers of the library.
  • The sanctity of the saint brings them closer to church.
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Yes. The word "sanctity" refers to the holiness of something as per the following google definition:

the state or quality of being holy, sacred, or saintly.

So it can only be used for something that is already holy, sacred, or saintly; it wouldn't make sense any other way.

As a brief aside, your example The scripts in this holy book are sanctity to the keepers of the library uses the word incorrectly, unless i'm very much mistaken. Though "sanctity" is a noun, nothing can be sanctity, in the same way that nothing can be holiness— only holy. Words with the -ness suffix refer to the quality itself, and you cannot be the quality: you can only possess it.

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    unless we were to say "... are sanctity itself..." meaning more or less that "these books are for them the pinnacle of holiness"
    – TimR
    Apr 13, 2017 at 12:28

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