secular
of or relating to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred; temporal: secular interests.
not pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to sacred): secular music.
(of education, a school, etc.) concerned with nonreligious subjects.
(of members of the clergy) not belonging to a religious order; not bound by monastic vows (opposed to regular).
occurring or celebrated once in an age or century: the secular games of Rome.
going on from age to age; continuing through long ages.
a layperson.
one of the secular clergy.
Origin of secular
1Other words from secular
- sec·u·lar·ly, adverb
- non·sec·u·lar, adjective
- pre·sec·u·lar, adjective
- su·per·sec·u·lar, adjective
- su·per·sec·u·lar·ly, adverb
- un·sec·u·lar, adjective
- un·sec·u·lar·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use secular in a sentence
It has an alcalde-mayor; most of its villages are in charge of seculars, and the others, of calced religious of St. Augustine.
Therefore, his Excellency was forced to desist from his attempt, as he had no seculars to whom to entrust that administration.
Struggles between them and the seculars, with appeals to the Crown, were the consequence.
Oxford and Her Colleges | Goldwin SmithThey despised the seculars as drones and the monks as lazy and corrupt.
The History of England | T.F. ToutBut seculars of position or influence appear to have been able to borrow monastic books.
Old English Libraries | Ernest Savage
British Dictionary definitions for secular
/ (ˈsɛkjʊlə) /
of or relating to worldly as opposed to sacred things; temporal
not concerned with or related to religion
not within the control of the Church
(of an education, etc)
having no particular religious affinities
not including compulsory religious studies or services
(of clerics) not bound by religious vows to a monastic or other order
occurring or appearing once in an age or century
lasting for a long time
astronomy occurring slowly over a long period of time: the secular perturbation of a planet's orbit
a member of the secular clergy
another word for layman
Origin of secular
1Derived forms of secular
- secularly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for secular
[ (sek-yuh-luhr) ]
Not concerned with religion or religious matters. Secular is the opposite of sacred.
Notes for secular
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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