The interest in the concept of sacral has been growing rapidly in science in recent years. The first definitions of this concept began to appear in the 80s of the 20th century. There is a lot of polemic in the definitions given to the concept of sacral. The term ―sacred‖ was described in various ways by the English philosopher D. Hume, and German thinkers F. Schleiermacher, M. Scheler, E. Cassirer, and M. Heidegger. Representatives of the French school of sociology as M. Moss, L. Lévy-Bruhl, J. Bataille, and M. Leiris interpreted the term diversely. Therefore, to reveal the meaning of the notion of ―sacral‖ thoroughly it is of paramount importance to explain the concept in the integration of religious studies, philosophy, cultural studies, art studies, archeology, ethnology, folkloristic, and philology.

This research paper clarifies the concept of ―sacral‖, and shows both well-known and unfamiliar aspects of the sacred as well as its typology that is made from the point of view of the aesthetic category. We also conducted a comparative analysis of definitions in different languages. Considering that the Latin word ―sacer‖ cannot be translated like many international terms, it was suggested to use it as sacral in the Kazakh language as well.

The relevance of the topic was determined and a conclusion was made through comprehensive research, differentiation, and systematization of the concept of sacral.