secular
English
Alternative forms
- sæcular (archaic)
Etymology
Latin saecularis (“of the age”), from saeculum
Pronunciation
Adjective
secular (comparative more secular, superlative most secular)
- Not specifically religious.
- Temporal; something that is worldly or otherwise not based on something timeless.
- (Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.
- secular clergy in Catholicism
- 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.
- 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.
- (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.
- 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, section 3
- (astrophysics) Of or pertaining to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion.
- (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 να and νβ are derived from eqn.(21) by ...
- 2000, S. A. Dikanov, Two-dimensional ESEEM Spectroscopy, in New Advances in Analytical Chemistry (Atta-ur-Rahman, ed.), page 539
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
|
temporal
not bound by the vows of a monastic order
|
happening once in an age or century
astrophysics: of or pertaining to long-term non-periodic irregularities
|
atomic physics: unperturbed over time
|
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Translations to be checked
References
Noun
secular (plural seculars)
- A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Burke to this entry?)
- 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?)
- A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.