secular

[ sek-yuh-ler ]

/ ˈsɛk yə lər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR secular ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

noun

a layperson.

one of the secular clergy.

Nearby words

Origin of secular

1250–1300; < Medieval Latin sēculāris, Late Latin saeculāris worldly, temporal (opposed to eternal), Latin: of an age, equivalent to Latin saecul(um) long period of time + -āris -ar¹; replacing Middle English seculer < Old French < Latin, as above

Related forms

sec·u·lar·ly, adverbnon·sec·u·lar, adjectivepre·sec·u·lar, adjectivesu·per·sec·u·lar, adjective

su·per·sec·u·lar·ly, adverbun·sec·u·lar, adjectiveun·sec·u·lar·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for secular

He advocates a secular regime with a total separation of religion form the government.
Behind Bars for the Holidays: 11 Political Prisoners We Want to See Free In 2015|Movements.Org|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
So here, for your Christmas Eve pleasure, are 20 of my favorites, 10 from the ecclesiastical division and 10 secular.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
From the religious (‘The Holly and the Ivy’) to the secular (‘The Chipmunk Song’), my top 20.
Yes, I Like Christmas Music. Stop Laughing.|Michael Tomasky|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
That is what conservative organizations, religious and secular, have done for centuries.
Church Sex Scandals Are Rooted in Theology|Jay Michaelson|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST

A secular police state well practiced in suppressing internal challenges.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Dec. 14|PunditFact.com|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The clergy are always enraged when an attempt is made to subject them to the secular power.
Letters To Eugenia|Paul Henri Thiry Holbach
Seclude thyself from the turmoil of secular affairs and often even from talk with thy brethren.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume I of II)|Henry Osborn Taylor
The danger, then, was the spirit of passionate revolt against the secular power.
Lux Mundi|Various
Such they are to the Christian world, and such, by the law of common usage, they are to the secular world.
The Christ|John Eleazer Remsburg
Such have been the characteristics always of the secular wars between the British and the French.
The German War|Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for secular

secular

/ (ˈsɛkjʊlə) /

adjective

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 timethe secular perturbation of a planet's orbit

noun

a member of the secular clergy

another word for layman

Derived Formssecularly, adverb

Word Origin for secular

C13: from Old French seculer, from Late Latin saeculāris temporal, from Latin: concerning an age, from saeculum an age

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

Word Origin and History for secular

secular

adj.

c.1300, "living in the world, not belonging to a religious order," also "belonging to the state," from Old French seculer (Modern French séculier), from Late Latin saecularis "worldly, secular, pertaining to a generation or age," from Latin saecularis "of an age, occurring once in an age," from saeculum "age, span of time, generation."

According to Watkins, this is probably from PIE *sai-tlo-, with instrumental element *-tlo- + *sai- "to bind, tie" (see sinew), extended metaphorically to successive human generations as links in the chain of life. Another theory connects it with words for "seed," from PIE root *se- "to sow" (see sow (v.), and cf. Gothic mana-seþs "mankind, world," literally "seed of men").

Used in ecclesiastical writing like Greek aion "of this world" (see cosmos). It is source of French siècle. Ancient Roman ludi saeculares was a three-day, day-and-night celebration coming once in an "age" (120 years). In English, in reference to humanism and the exclusion of belief in God from matters of ethics and morality, from 1850s.

Culture definitions for secular

secular

[ (sek-yuh-luhr) ]

Not concerned with religion or religious matters. Secular is the opposite of sacred.

Note

Secularization refers to the declining influence of religion and religious values within a given culture. Secular humanism means, loosely, a belief in human self-sufficiency.

secular

adjective

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of secular

Examples from the Web for secular

British Dictionary definitions for secular

secular

adjective

noun

Word Origin for secular

Word Origin and History for secular

secular

Culture definitions for secular

secular

Note