Antonyms for secular

Grammar : Adj

Spell : sek-yuh-ler

Phonetic Transcription : ˈsɛk yə lər

Definition of secular

Origin : c.1300, "living in the world, not belonging to a religious order," also "belonging to the state," from Old French seculer (Modern French séculier), from Late Latin saecularis "worldly, secular, pertaining to a generation or age," from Latin saecularis "of an age, occurring once in an age," from saeculum "age, span of time, generation."
According to Watkins, this is probably from PIE *sai-tlo-, with instrumental element *-tlo- + *sai- "to bind, tie" (see sinew), extended metaphorically to successive human generations as links in the chain of life. Another theory connects it with words for "seed," from PIE root *se- "to sow" (see sow (v.), and cf. Gothic mana-seþs "mankind, world," literally "seed of men").
Used in ecclesiastical writing like Greek aion "of this world" (see cosmos). It is source of French siècle. Ancient Roman ludi saeculares was a three-day, day-and-night celebration coming once in an "age" (120 years). In English, in reference to humanism and the exclusion of belief in God from matters of ethics and morality, from 1850s.

adj not spiritual or religious

Example sentences :

As we have said, India is a land where the secular does not appeal.
Extract from : « Lotus Buds » by Amy Carmichael

Of course, regarding the secular advantages of the colony, we cannot speak.
Extract from : « Leading Articles on Various Subjects » by Hugh Miller

Valuable modern and secular books have been added to these collections from time to time.
Extract from : « Aztec Land » by Maturin M. Ballou

Boye was a gifted writer, both on secular and religious themes.
Extract from : « Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark » by Jens Christian Aaberg

It must not, however, be supposed that New England had no secular music.
Extract from : « Annals of Music in America » by Henry Charles Lahee

He dominated the forest, the secular gloom, the old mankind.
Extract from : « Lord Jim » by Joseph Conrad

Freedom from sacerdotal dogma, from secular law, she has always had.
Extract from : « The Soul of a People » by H. Fielding

He had absolutely no desire to get mixed up with the secular police.
Extract from : « Pagan Passions » by Gordon Randall Garrett

For a while after my reception, I proposed to betake myself to some secular calling.
Extract from : « Apologia Pro Vita Sua » by John Henry Cardinal Newman

But I have not a good selection of music, sacred or secular.
Extract from : « A Pair of Blue Eyes » by Thomas Hardy

Synonyms for secular

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019