[5][6] The earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek 𐀳𐀕𐀜, te-me-no, written in Linear B syllabic script.
In religious discourse in English, temenos has also come to refer to a territory, plane, receptacle or field of deity or divinity.
Some authors have used the term to apply to a sacred grove of trees,[12] isolated from everyday living spaces, while other usage points to areas within ancient urban development that are parts of sanctuaries.
The earliest sanctuaries appear to have begun as a peribolos around a sacred grove, spring, cave, or other feature, with an altar but no temple or cult image.
Carl Jung relates the temenos to the spellbinding or magic circle, which acts as a "square space"[14] where mental "work" can take place.