secular

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Not connected with religion or spiritual matters.

   The country has a secular government that keeps religion out of politics.

2. 2
   adj

   Continuing or developing over a very long period of time.

   Economists pointed to a secular decline in manufacturing jobs.

3. 3
   adj

   Of clergy, not bound by the vows of a monastic order.

   The parish was run by a secular priest rather than a monk.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Secular derives from Latin saeculum, meaning “generation” or “age.” In Christian Latin, saeculum came to mean the worldly sphere as distinct from the Church, producing the contrast between secular and religious life. Its astronomical and economic uses, referring to changes over an age or long period, date from the early 19th century and reflect Latin saecularis, “relating to an age or period.”

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

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary