secular Definition
secu·lar (sek′yə lər)
adjective
- of or relating to worldly things as distinguished from things relating to church and religion; not sacred or religious; temporal; worldly secular music, secular schools
- of or marked by secularism; secularistic
- ordained for a diocese
- coming or happening only once in an age or century
- lasting for an age or ages; continuing for a long time or from age to age
Etymology: ME seculer < OFr < LL(Ec) saecularis, worldly, profane, heathen < L, of an age < saeculum, an age, generation < IE *seitlo- < base *sei-, to scatter, sow
noun
- a cleric ordained for a diocese
- a person not a cleric; layman
secular Related Forms
sec′u·larly adverb
secular Synonyms
secular Usage Examples
Converse of object
become: With all this talk of Christianity, it is easy to imagine government becoming less secular.
Adjective modifier
- more: As he put it: You are going to find a more secular, modernized UUP.
- new: On 12 January 1858 these courts ceased, and jurisdiction for the granting of probate was passed to the new secular Court of Probate.
- contemporary: What that mission was is hard to say, but it conflicted with contemporary secular and religious authority and he was eventually crucified.
Modifies a noun
- humanism: N early all religions have their origins in Secular Humanism.
- clergy: The Scots College was to be ruled by Italian superiors drawn from the secular clergy.
- canon: The plays were written by secular canons at Glasney College in Penryn with the intention of teaching ordinary people tales from the Bible.
- priest: During their rule the college had become the main source of secular priests on the Scottish Mission.
- republic: Turkey is a secular republic with a fully democratic government.
Modifying Another Word
- purely: In fact they are purely secular merely depicting those who had a special connection with the new house.
- increasingly: The nineteenth century change was part of an increasingly secular approach to human nature.
- largely: In largely secular societies, it is not surprising that the concept of blessings has dwindled.
- essentially: We do not follow an essentially secular model of self fulfillment - this is what you will get.
- thoroughly: Society tends to emphasize success, materialism, consumerism, is becoming thoroughly secular.
Noun used with modifier
- modem: Modem secular folk, of course, pretend otherwise.
- century: To be sure it treads hard on twenty-first century secular certainties.
- state: Points and increased specifically strong state secular trend should the two known.
Used with adjective complement
become: Society tends to emphasize success, materialism, consumerism, is becoming thoroughly secular.
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