secularization
Americannoun
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separation from religious or spiritual connection or influences.
The secularization of America can be seen in politics, legal decisions, and educational institutions, as well as in the arts and the media.
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the transfer of property from ecclesiastical to civil possession or use.
There continues to be a debate about the secularization of religious art objects now exhibited in museum settings.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of secularization
Explanation
When something changes from being closely connected to or controlled by religion to being nonreligious, that's secularization. A religious school that's ending its affiliation with a church is undergoing secularization. An institution, government, or society that has no connection to religion is secular, and the process of moving toward being secular is secularization. If a country's population has become less religious or spiritual over time, it's evidence of the secularization of the entire society. Many colleges, including Harvard University for example, were religious institutions until they underwent secularization.
Vocabulary lists containing secularization
World Religions
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Content Summary 6.2: A New Age of Revolutions: Mexico, Russia, and China
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The Contemporary Period, c. 1914 to the Present
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Secularization undermined this eternal source of comfort, which enabled the new "emotion" of loneliness to arise.
From Salon • May 29, 2023
In the Middle Ages, he writes, quoting “A Complex Delight: The Secularization of the Breast, 1350-1750,” “the virgin’s nursing breast, the lactating virgin, was the primary symbol of God’s love for humanity.”
From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2013
Eberstadt is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and the author of the forthcoming book, How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization.
From Time • Mar. 14, 2013
Secularization, science, urbanization�all have made it comparatively easy for the modern man to ask where God is, and hard for the man of faith to give a convincing answer, even to himself.
From Time Magazine Archive
At the time of the Secularization of the Missions, the Mexican Government confiscated a large remaining portion of this "Pious Fund."
From Chimes of Mission Bells; an historical sketch of California and her missions by Field, Maria Antonia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
