secular

English

Alternative forms

• sæcular (archaic)

Etymology

From Old French seculer, from Latin saecularis ‎(“of the age”), from saeculum

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛk.jə.lə(ɹ)/, /sɛk.jʊu.lɑː(ɹ)/ (Britain)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

secular ‎(comparative more secular, superlative most secular)

1. Not specifically religious.
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

   • 2006, The Economist, Economics focus: Dividing the pie

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

6. (literary) Centuries-old, ancient.
   • 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 3

     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.
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 ...

Derived terms

• paleosecular

Synonyms

• (not religious): worldly

Antonyms

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

Translations

not specifically religious

• Arabic: دُنْيَاوِيّ ‎(dunyāwiyy), عَلْمَانِيّ ‎(ʿalmāniyy)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: secular (ca), laic (ca)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: světský (cs)
• Danish: verdslig (da), sekulær (da)
• Dutch: seculier (nl), wereldlijk (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: maallinen (fi)
• French: séculier (fr), laïque (fr), mondain (fr)
• German: säkular (de), weltlich (de)
• Greek: κοσμικός (el) m ‎(kosmikós)
• Hebrew: חול \ חֹל (he) ‎(ḥoll)
• Hindi: पन्थनिरपेक्ष ‎(panthnirpeksh)

• Irish: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: secolare (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)
• Norman: sétchulyi
• Maori: whakawhenua
• Polish: świecki (pl)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Russian: све́тский (ru) ‎(svétskij), мирско́й (ru) ‎(mirskój), секуля́рный (ru) ‎(sekuljárnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoghalta
• Spanish: seglar (es), laico (es), mundano (es), secular (es)
• Swedish: sekulär (sv)
• Tagalog: banwahanin
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

temporal

• Finnish: maallinen (fi), ajallinen (fi)
• French: séculier (fr)
• Norman: sétchulyi
• Greek: κοσμικός (el) m ‎(kosmikós)

• Maori: whakawhenua
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoghalta
• Spanish: seglar (es), secular (es)

not bound by the vows of a monastic order

• Finnish: maallikko- (fi)

• Spanish: seglar (es), secular (es)

happening once in an age or century

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)
• French: séculaire (fr)

• Italian: secolare (it)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Spanish: secular (es)

long-term

• 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, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} seculier
• French: ^{(please verify)} profane
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} secolare
• Malayalam: മതേതരം (mathEtharam) (2)

References

• Webster's English Dictionary

Noun

secular ‎(plural seculars)

1. A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Burke to this entry?)

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

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Busby to this entry?)

3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Translations

A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules

• Spanish: seglar (es) m

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

A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman

Anagrams

• recusal

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Portuguese

Adjective

secular ‎(plural seculares, comparable)

1. secular

---

Spanish

Adjective

secular m, f ‎(plural seculares)

1. secular