Wiktionary

profane

See also: profané

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle French prophane, from Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”), from pro- (“before”) + fānum (“temple”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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profane (comparative profaner or more profane, superlative profanest or most profane)

  1. Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
  2. Not sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular.
    profane authors
    • 1781, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:
      A sonnet in praise of Rome was accepted as the effusion of genius and gratitude; and after the whole procession had visited the Vatican, the profane wreath was suspended before the shrine.
    • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 102:
      The sacred is the emotional force which connects the part to the whole; the profane or the secular is that which has been broken off from, or has fallen off, its emotional bond to the universe.
  3. Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn; blasphemous, impious.
  4. Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain
    a profane person, word, oath, or tongue

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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(antonym(s) of “not sacred or holy”): faithful, holy, orthodox, religious, sacred, sacrosanct, spiritual

Translations

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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

Noun

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profane (plural profanes)

  1. A person or thing that is profane.
    • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 244:
      The nuns were employed in religious duties established in honour of St Clare, and to which no profane was ever admitted.
  2. (Freemasonry) A person not a Mason.

Verb

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profane (third-person singular simple present profanes, present participle profaning, simple past and past participle profaned)

  1. (transitive) To violate (something sacred); to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate
    One should not profane the name of God.
    to profane the Scriptures
  2. (transitive) To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to debase; to abuse; to defile.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Translations

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin profānus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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profane (plural profanes)

  1. secular; lay
    Synonyms: laïque, séculier
    Antonym: sacré
  2. profane
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Further reading

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Galician

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Verb

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profane

  1. inflection of profanar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

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Adjective

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profane f pl

  1. feminine plural of profano

Noun

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profane f

  1. plural of profana

Latin

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Adjective

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profāne

  1. vocative masculine singular of profānus

References

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  • “profane”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • profane in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

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Verb

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profane

  1. inflection of profanar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /pɾoˈfane/ [pɾoˈfa.ne]
  • Rhymes: -ane
  • Syllabification: pro‧fa‧ne

Verb

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profane

  1. inflection of profanar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

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Adjective

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profane

  1. definite natural masculine singular of profan
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