profane
See also: profané
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle French prophane, from Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”), from pro- (“before”) + fānum (“temple”).
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
profane (comparative profaner or more profane, superlative profanest or most profane)
- Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
- 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
- Nothing is profane that serveth to the use of holy things.
- 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.
- Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn; blasphemous, impious.
- Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain
- a profane person, word, oath, or tongue
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:9:
- the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane
Synonyms edit
- (obscene): vulgar, inappropriate, obscene, debased, uncouth, offensive, ignoble, mean, lewd, wicked
- (not sacred): secular, unsanctified, unhallowed, unholy, irreligious, temporal, worldly, ungodly, impious, godless
- (taking God's name in vain): irreverent
Antonyms edit
(antonym(s) of "not sacred or holy"): faithful, holy, orthodox, religious, sacred, sacrosanct, spiritual
Translations edit
unclean; impure; polluted; unholy
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Not sacred or holy
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Treating sacred matters with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity
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taking the name of God in vain
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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.
Noun edit
profane (plural profanes)
- 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.
- (Freemasonry) A person not a Mason.
Verb edit
profane (third-person singular simple present profanes, present participle profaning, simple past and past participle profaned)
- (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
- 1600, [Michael Drayton, Richard Hathwaye, Anthony Munday, Robert Wilson], The First Part of the True and Honorable Historie, of the Life of Sir John Old-castle, the Good Lord Cobham. […][1], London: […] [V[alentine] S[immes]] for Thomas Pauier, […], →OCLC:
- VVhen the vulgar ſort / Sit on their Ale-bench, vvith their cups and kannes, / Matters of ſtate be not their common talke, / Nor pure religion by their lips prophande.
- 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter XXXIV, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:
- With one mind, their intent eyes all fastened upon the old man’s knife, as he carved the chief dish before him. I do not suppose that for the world they would have profaned that moment with the slightest observation, even upon so neutral a topic as the weather.
- (transitive) To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to debase; to abuse; to defile.
Synonyms edit
- (violate something sacred): defile, unhallow; see also Thesaurus:desecrate
- (put to a wrong or unworthy use): abase, adulterate, degrade, demean, misapply, misuse, pervert
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "violate something sacred"): consecrate, sanctify; see also Thesaurus:consecrate
Translations edit
To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt
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Related terms edit
French edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
profane (plural profanes)
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “profane”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician edit
Verb edit
profane
- inflection of profanar:
Italian edit
Adjective edit
profane f pl
Noun edit
profane f
Latin edit
Adjective edit
profāne
References edit
- “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 edit
Verb edit
profane
- inflection of profanar:
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
profane
- inflection of profanar:
Swedish edit
Adjective edit
profane