secular

See also: Secular

English

Alternative forms

• sæcular (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English seculer, from Old French seculer, from Latin saeculāris (“of the age”), from saeculum.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkjʊlə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkjələɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

secular (comparative more secular, superlative most secular)

1. Not specifically religious; lay or civil, as opposed to clerical; profane.
2. Temporal; worldly, or otherwise not based on something timeless.
3. (Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.

   secular clergy in Catholicism

4. Happening once in an age or century.

   The secular games of ancient Rome were held to mark the end of a saeculum and the beginning of the next.

5. Continuing over a long period of time, long-term.

   The long-term growth in population and income accounts for most secular trends in economic phenomena.

   on a secular basis

   • 2005, Alpha Chiang and Kevin Wainwright, Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics (4th ed.), McGraw-Hill International, p. 501

     In this event, the $s\phi (k)$ curve in Fig. 15.5 will be subject to a secular upward shift, resulting in successively higher intersections with the $\lambda k$ ray and also in larger values of ${\bar {k}}$.

   • 2006, “Economics focus: Dividing the pie”, in The Economist‎^[1]:

     The skewed distribution of productivity gains is thus less a new phenomenon than a secular trend.

6. (literary) Centuries-old, ancient.
   • 1899 April, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MII, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part III (Conclusion):

     The long reaches that were like one and the same reach, monotonous bends that were exactly alike, slipped past the steamer with their multitude of secular trees looking patiently after this grimy fragment of another world, the forerunner of change, of conquest, of trade, of massacres, of blessings.

7. (astrophysics, geology) Relating to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion or magnetic field.
   • 2003, E. T. Jaynes, Probability Theory: The Logic of Science, Cambridge University Press, pages 234–235:

     Laplace (1749–1827) "saved the world" by using probability theory to estimate the parameters accurately enough to show that the drift of Jupiter was not secular after all; the observations at hand had covered only a fraction of a cycle of an oscillation with a period of about 880 years.

8. (atomic physics) Unperturbed over time.
   • 2000, S. A. Dikanov, Two-dimensional ESEEM Spectroscopy, in New Advances in Analytical Chemistry (Atta-ur-Rahman, ed.), page 539

     The secular A and nonsecular B parts of hyperfine interaction for any particular frequencies ν_α and ν_β are derived from eqn.(21) by ...

Synonyms

• (not religious): worldly
• (centuries old): plurisecular, multisecular

Antonyms

• nonsecular
• (antonym(s) of “not religious”): religious
• (antonym(s) of “not religious”): sacred (used especially of music)
• (antonym(s) of “not bound by monastic vows”): monastic
• (antonym(s) of “not bound by monastic vows”): regular (as regular clergy in Catholicism)
• eternal, everlasting
• frequent
• unpredictable
• non-recurring
• (antonym(s) of “finance”): short-term
• (antonym(s) of “finance”): cyclical

Derived terms

• multisecular
• paleosecular
• plurisecular
• pro-secular
• secular arm
• secular equilibrium
• secularism
• secularist
• secularize
• secularly
• secular progressivism
• secular resonance
• semisecular

 

Translations

not specifically religious

• Albanian: laik (sq)
• Arabic: دُنْيَوِيّ (dunyawiyy), عَلْمَانِيّ (ʕalmāniyy)
• Armenian: աշխարհիկ (hy) (ašxarhik)
• Azerbaijani: dünyəvi
• Belarusian: све́цкі (svjécki)
• Bulgarian: све́тски (bg) (svétski), ми́рски (bg) (mírski)
• Catalan: secular (ca), laic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 世俗 (zh) (shìsú), 凡 (zh) (fán), 塵俗／尘俗 (zh) (chénsú), 非宗教 (zh) (fēizōngjiāo)

• Czech: světský (cs)
• Danish: verdslig (da), sekulær (da)
• Dutch: seculier (nl), wereldlijk (nl)
• Esperanto: sekulara
• Finnish: maallinen (fi)
• French: séculier (fr), laïque (fr), mondain (fr)
• Galician: secular (gl)
• Georgian: სეკულარული (seḳularuli)
• German: säkular (de), weltlich (de)
• Greek: κοσμικός (el) m (kosmikós)

  Ancient: ἄθεος (átheos)

• Hebrew: חול (he) (khol), חילוני (he) m (khiloní)
• Hindi: पन्थनिरपेक्ष (panthanirpekṣ)
• Hungarian: világi (hu)
• Icelandic: veraldlegur (is)
• Indonesian: sekuler (id)
• Irish: saolta, tuata
• Italian: secolare (it), laico (it)
• Japanese: 世俗的な (ja) (せぞくてきな, sezokuteki na), 世俗の (ja) (せぞくの, sezoku no), 非宗教的な (ひしゅうきょうてきな, hishūkyōteki na)
• Kazakh: дүниелік (dünielık), дүнияуи (düniäui), зайырлы (zaiyrly)
• Korean: 세속적(世俗的) (sesokjeok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: sekuler (ku)

• Kyrgyz: дүйнөлүк (ky) (düynölük)
• Lao: ທາງໂລກ (thāng lōk)
• Latin: profānus
• Macedonian: светски (svetski)
• Malay: sekular
• Malayalam: മതേതര (ml) (matētara)
• Maori: whakawhenua, hāhikore
• Norman: sétchulyi (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sekulær (no)

• Ottoman Turkish: دنیوی (dünyevi)
• Persian: دنیوی (fa) (donyavi), سکولار (sekulâr)
• Polish: świecki (pl), laicki (pl)
• Portuguese: secular (pt), laico (pt)
• Romanian: laic (ro), secular (ro)
• Russian: све́тский (ru) (svétskij), мирско́й (ru) (mirskój), секуля́рный (ru) (sekuljárnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoghalta
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: светован, свјетован

  Roman: svetovan (sh), svjetovan

• Slovak: svetský
• Slovene: posveten, sekularen
• Spanish: seglar (es), laico (es), mundano (es), secular (es)
• Swedish: sekulär (sv), världslig (sv)
• Tagalog: banwahanin
• Tajik: ғайридинӣ (ġayridini), дунявӣ (dunyavi)
• Thai: ทางโลก (taang-lôok)
• Turkish: seküler (tr), dünyevi (tr)
• Turkmen: dünýewi
• Ukrainian: сві́тський (svítsʹkyj), мирськи́й (myrsʹkýj)
• Urdu: دُنیاوی (duniyāvī)
• Uzbek: dunyoviy (uz)
• Vietnamese: thế tục (vi)
• Yiddish: סעקולער (sekuler)

temporal

• Bulgarian: веко́вен (bg) (vekóven)
• Finnish: maallinen (fi), ajallinen (fi)
• French: séculier (fr)
• Greek: κοσμικός (el) m (kosmikós)
• Indonesian: sekuler (id)
• Maori: whakawhenua
• Norman: sétchulyi (Jersey)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoghalta
• Spanish: seglar (es), secular (es)

not bound by the vows of a monastic order

• Czech: světský (cs)
• Finnish: maallikko- (fi)
• Indonesian: sekulir (id)
• Italian: secolare (it)
• Spanish: seglar (es), secular (es)

happening once in an age or century

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)
• French: séculaire (fr)
• Italian: secolare (it), centennale (rare)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Spanish: secular (es)

long-term

• Bulgarian: тра́ен (bg) (tráen), продължи́телен (bg) (prodǎlžítelen)
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi), pitkäaikainen (fi)
• Spanish: secular (es)
• Swedish: sekulär (sv), långsamt skeende

astrophysics: of or pertaining to long-term non-periodic irregularities

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)

atomic physics: unperturbed over time

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} shekullar (sq)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} seculier (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} profane (fr)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} secolare (it)
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} മതേതരം (ml) (matētaraṁ)

Noun

secular (plural seculars)

1. A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.
   • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:

     On further examination, I found the clergy, in general, persons of moderate minds and decorous manners : I include the seculars, and the regulars of both sexes

2. A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir.
3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Translations

secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules

• Finnish: sekulaari (fi)
• Indonesian: sekulir (id)
• Spanish: seglar (es) m

church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir

• Finnish: sekulaari (fi)

layman, as distinguished from a clergyman

• Bulgarian: мирянин (bg) m (mirjanin)
• Finnish: maallikko (fi)
• Italian: secolare (it) m

References

• “secular”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• secular in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• “secular”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• Webster's English Dictionary

Anagrams

• Clauser, cesural, recusal

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin saeculāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [sə.kuˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [sə.kuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [se.kuˈlaɾ]

Adjective

secular m or f (masculine and feminine plural seculars)

1. secular

Derived terms

• secularitzar
• secularment

Further reading

• “secular” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “secular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “secular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “secular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin saeculāris.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaʁ/ [se.kuˈlah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaʁ/ [se.kuˈlah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaʁ/ [se.kuˈlaχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.kuˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.kuˈla.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: se‧cu‧lar

Adjective

secular m or f (plural seculares)

1. secular

Derived terms

• secularizar
• secularmente

Further reading

• “secular”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2024

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French séculaire, from Latin saecularis.

Adjective

secular m or n (feminine singular seculară, masculine plural seculari, feminine and neuter plural seculare)

1. secular

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	secular		seculară		seculari	seculare
	definite	secularul		seculara		secularii	secularele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	secular		seculare		seculari	seculare
	definite	secularului		secularei		secularilor	secularelor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin saeculāris. Doublet of seglar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sekuˈlaɾ/ [se.kuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: se‧cu‧lar

Adjective

secular m or f (masculine and feminine plural seculares)

1. secular

   Synonym: laico

Derived terms

• secularidad
• secularizar
• secularmente

 

Further reading

• “secular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28