Holiness

1. It has been customary to define holy as: "purity, free form every stain, wholly perfect and immaculate in every detail."
2. The primary meaning of holy is "separate." It comes from an ancient word that meant, "to cut," or "to separate." To translate this basic meaning into contemporary language would be to use the phrase "a cut apart." Perhaps even more accurate would be the phrase "a cut above something." When we find a garment or another piece of merchandise that is outstanding, that has a superior excellence, we use the expression that it is "a cut above the rest."

RC Sproul, The Holiness of God, p.53-54