A
saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of
holiness, or likeness to
God. While the English term "saint" originated in Christianity,
historians of religion now use the appellation "in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people," with the Jewish
Tzadik, the Islamic
Mu'min, the Hindu
rishi or Sikh
guru, and the Buddhist
arhat or
bodhisattva also being referred to as "saints". Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration/denomination or by popular acclamation (see
folk saints).