consecration

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act, process, or ceremony of consecrating.
• noun The state of being consecrated.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of consecrating, or separating from a common to a sacred use; the act of devoting or dedicating a person or thing to the service and worship of God by certain rites or solemnities: as, the consecration of the priests among the Israelites; the consecration of the vessels used in the temple; the consecration of the elements in the eucharist; the consecration of a church.
• noun Specifically Eccles.: The act of conferring upon a priest the powers and authority of a bishop; the rite or ceremony of elevation to the episcopate.
• noun The act of giving the sacramental character to the eucharistic elements of bread and wine. According to the Roman Catholic and the Anglican Church the essential act of eucharistic consecration consists in the recital of the words of institution over the elements by a priest.
• noun The prayer used to consecrate the eucharistic elements.
• noun The act of placing a particle of the consecrated bread or host in the chalice; the commixture (which see).
• noun Devotion or dedication from deep feeling, especially from a religious motive: as, the consecration of one's self to the service of God, or of one's energies to the search for truth.
• noun In Roman history, the ceremony of the apotheosis of an emperor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act or ceremony of consecrating; the state of being consecrated; dedication.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act or ceremony of consecrating; the state of being consecrated; dedication.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose (to a service or a goal)
• noun (religion) sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God