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The Consecration of Deodat (1620, Claude Bassot).

Consecration is a special ceremony, usually religious, in which a person, or an object, or a building, is dedicated to a special purpose. When a new church is built there will be a special opening ceremony, called a "consecration". In many religions ordination is how individuals are consecrated (ordained) as a minister.

The verb is to consecrate. The adjective is consecrated.

• A synonym (another word) for consecration is sanctification (verb: to sanctify).
• An antonym (the opposite) is desecration (verb: to desecrate) (for example when people smash holy things in a church).
• A related word is deconsecration, also called secularization. it is the act of reversing the consecration from something that had been previously consecrated. A church building which is no longer to be used as a church is sometimes deconsecrated, thus making it suitable for secular use.