secular

See also: Secular

English

Alternative forms

• sæcular (archaic)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkjʊlə/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkjələɹ/

  • Audio (Southern California):

    (file)

Adjective

secular (comparative more secular, superlative most secular)

2. Not specifically religious; lay or civil, as opposed to clerical.

   Synonyms: areligious, temporal, worldly; see also Thesaurus:secular

   Antonyms: nonsecular, religious, sacred (used especially of music)

4. Temporal; worldly, or otherwise not based on something timeless.

   Synonym: chronological

   Antonym: nonsecular

6. (Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a religious order.

   Antonyms: monastic, nonsecular, regular (Catholicism)

   Coordinate term: religious (technical sense within the church)

   Near-synonym: nonmonastic

   secular clergy in Catholicism

8. Happening once in an age or century.

   Antonym: nonsecular

   Coordinate term: epochal

   Near-synonyms: centurial, centennial

   The secular games of ancient Rome were held to mark the end of a saeculum and the beginning of the next.

10. Continuing over a long period of time.

    Synonyms: long-term, nonsecular

    Antonyms: short-term, cyclical

    The long-term growth in population and income accounts for most secular trends in economic phenomena.

    on a secular basis

    • 2005, Alpha Chiang, Kevin Wainwright, Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill International, page 501:

      In this event, the $s\varphi (k)$ curve in Fig. 15.5 will be subject to a secular upward shift, resulting in successively higher intersections with the $\lambda k$ ray and also in larger values of $\overline{k}$.

    • 2006, “Economics focus: Dividing the pie”, in The Economist‎^[1], London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 January 2018:

      The skewed distribution of productivity gains is thus less a new phenomenon than a secular trend.

    • 2025 December, Marina Azzimonti, Per Krusell, Alisdair McKay, Toshihiko Mukoyama, Macroeconomics‎^[2], December 2025 edition, retrieved 13 July 2026, page 437:

      The timing of the secular change in the labor wedge coincides with the changing nature of fluctuations that we saw in the data post-1985.

    • 2026 January 9, “Understanding the Secular Decline in Testosterone: Mechanisms, Consequences, and Clinical Perspectives”, in International Journal of Molecular Sciences‎^[3], volume 27, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, page 692:

      Growing evidence indicates a secular, age-independent decline in testosterone levels across populations, a trend associated with reduced fertility, metabolic and cardiovascular dysfunction, mood disturbances, and impaired quality of life.

12. (literary) Centuries-old, ancient.

    Synonyms: plurisecular, multisecular, nonsecular

    • 1899 April, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number MII, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part III (Conclusion):

      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.

13. (astrophysics, geology) Relating to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion or magnetic field.

    Antonym: nonsecular

    • 2003, E. T. Jaynes, Probability Theory: The Logic of Science, Cambridge University Press, pages 234–235:

      Laplace (1749–1827) "saved the world" by using probability theory to estimate the parameters accurately enough to show that the drift of Jupiter was not secular after all; the observations at hand had covered only a fraction of a cycle of an oscillation with a period of about 880 years.

14. (atomic physics) Unperturbed over time.

    Antonym: nonsecular

    • 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 ν_α and ν_β are derived from eqn.(21) by ...

Antonyms

• eternal, everlasting
• frequent
• unpredictable
• non-recurring

Derived terms

• antisecular
• intersecular
• intrasecular
• multisecular
• palaeosecular
• paleosecular
• plurisecular
• postsecular
• presecular
• pro-secular
• pseudosecular
• secular arm
• secular clergy
• secular equilibrium
• secularisation
• secularism
• secularist
• secularity
• secularization
• secularize
• secularly
• secularness
• secular progressivism
• secular religion
• secular resonance
• Secular Zionism
• semisecular
• sickular
• supersecular
• unsecular

Related terms

• fin de siècle
• secle

Translations

not specifically religious

• Akan: wiase
• Albanian: laik (sq)
• Arabic: دُنْيَوِيّ (dunyawiyy), عَلْمَانِيّ (ʕalmāniyy)
• Armenian: աշխարհիկ (hy) (ašxarhik)
• Azerbaijani: dünyəvi
• Belarusian: све́цкі (svjécki)
• Bulgarian: све́тски (bg) (svétski), ми́рски (bg) (mírski)
• Catalan: secular (ca), laic (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 世俗 (zh) (shìsú), 凡 (zh) (fán), 塵俗 / 尘俗 (zh) (chénsú), 非宗教 (zh) (fēizōngjiāo)

• Czech: světský (cs)
• Danish: verdslig (da), sekulær (da)
• Dutch: seculier (nl), wereldlijk (nl)
• Esperanto: sekulara
• Finnish: maallinen (fi)
• French: séculier (fr), laïque (fr), mondain (fr)
• Galician: secular (gl)
• Georgian: სეკულარული (seḳularuli)
• German: säkular (de), weltlich (de)
• Greek: κοσμικός (el) m (kosmikós)

  Ancient Greek: ἄθεος (átheos)

• Hebrew: חול (he) (khol), חילוני (he) m (khiloní)
• Hindi: पन्थनिरपेक्ष (panthanirpekṣ)
• Hungarian: világi (hu)
• Icelandic: veraldlegur (is)
• Indonesian: sekuler (id)
• Irish: saolta, tuata
• Italian: secolare (it), laico (it)
• Japanese: 世俗的な (ja) (せぞくてきな, sezokuteki na), 世俗の (ja) (せぞくの, sezoku no), 非宗教的な (ひしゅうきょうてきな, hishūkyōteki na)
• Kazakh: дүниелік (düniyelik), дүнияуи (dünıyawiy), зайырлы (zayırlı)
• Korean: 세속적(世俗的) (sesokjeok)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: sekuler (ku)

• Kyrgyz: дүйнөлүк (ky) (düynölük)
• Lao: ທາງໂລກ (thāng lōk)
• Latin: profānus
• Macedonian: светски (svetski)
• Malay: sekular
• Malayalam: മതേതര (ml) (matētara)
• Māori: whakawhenua, hāhikore
• Norman: sétchulyi (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: sekulær (no)

• Persian: دنیوی (fa) (donyavi), سکولار (sekulâr)
• Polish: świecki (pl), laicki (pl)
• Portuguese: secular (pt), laico (pt)
• Romanian: laic (ro), secular (ro)
• Russian: све́тский (ru) (svétskij), мирско́й (ru) (mirskój), секуля́рный (ru) (sekuljárnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoghalta
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: светован, свјетован

  Latin: svetovan (sh), svjetovan

• Slovak: svetský
• Slovene: posveten, sekularen
• Spanish: seglar (es), laico (es), mundano (es), secular (es)
• Swedish: sekulär (sv), världslig (sv)
• Tagalog: banwahanin
• Tajik: ғайридинӣ (ġayridini), дунявӣ (dunyavi)
• Thai: ทางโลก (taang-lôok)
• Turkish: seküler (tr), dünyevi (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: دنیوی (dünyevi)

• Turkmen: dünýewi
• Ukrainian: сві́тський (svítsʹkyj), мирськи́й (myrsʹkýj)
• Urdu: دُنیاوی (duniyāvī), علمانی (ilmānī)
• Uzbek: dunyoviy (uz)
• Vietnamese: thế tục (vi)
• Yiddish: סעקולער (sekuler)

temporal

• Bulgarian: веко́вен (bg) (vekóven)
• Dutch: tijdelijk (nl),
• Finnish: maallinen (fi), ajallinen (fi)
• French: séculier (fr)
• Greek: κοσμικός (el) m (kosmikós)
• Indonesian: sekuler (id)
• Italian: secolare (it)
• Māori: whakawhenua
• Norman: sétchulyi (Jersey)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: saoghalta
• Spanish: seglar (es), secular (es)

not bound by the vows of a monastic order

• Czech: světský (cs)
• Finnish: maallikko- (fi)
• Indonesian: sekulir (id)
• Italian: secolare (it)
• Spanish: seglar (es), secular (es)

happening once in an age or century

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)
• French: séculaire (fr)
• Italian: secolare (it), centennale (rare)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)
• Spanish: secular (es)

long-term

• Bulgarian: тра́ен (bg) (tráen), продължи́телен (bg) (prodălžítelen)
• Dutch: lange termijn (nl),
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi), pitkäaikainen (fi)
• Italian: secolare (it)
• Spanish: secular (es)
• Swedish: sekulär (sv), långsamt skeende

astrophysics: of or pertaining to long-term non-periodic irregularities

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)
• Italian: secolare (it)
• Portuguese: secular (pt)

atomic physics: unperturbed over time

• Finnish: sekulaarinen (fi)
• Italian: secolare (it)

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

• Albanian: ^{(please verify)} shekullar (sq)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} seculier (nl)
• French: ^{(please verify)} profane (fr)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} secolare (it)
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} മതേതരം (ml) (matētaraṁ)

See also

• material
• mundane
• practical
• quotidian
• rational

Noun

secular (plural seculars)

1. A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.
   • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:

     On further examination, I found the clergy, in general, persons of moderate minds and decorous manners : I include the seculars, and the regulars of both sexes

2. A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir.
3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Translations

secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules

• Finnish: sekulaari (fi)
• Indonesian: sekulir (id)
• Spanish: seglar (es) m

church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir

• Finnish: sekulaari (fi)

layman, as distinguished from a clergyman

• Bulgarian: мирянин (bg) m (mirjanin)
• Finnish: maallikko (fi)
• Italian: secolare (it) m

References

• “secular”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• secular in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “secular”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• Webster's English Dictionary

Anagrams

• Clauser, cesural, recusal

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin saeculāris.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [sə.kuˈlar]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [sə.kuˈla]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [se.kuˈlaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [se.kuˈlar]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

secular m or f (masculine and feminine plural seculars)

1. secular

Derived terms

• secularitzar
• secularment

Further reading

• “secular”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “secular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “secular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “secular”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

?

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey-

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂éytlom

Proto-Italic *saitlom ~ *saiklom

Latin saeculum

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin saeculārislbor.

Portuguese secular

Learned borrowing from Latin saeculāris.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaʁ/ [se.kuˈlah]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaʁ/ [se.kuˈlah]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaʁ/ [se.kuˈlaχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /se.kuˈlaɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.kuˈlaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.kuˈlaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨ.kuˈla.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: se‧cu‧lar

Adjective

secular m or f (plural seculares)

1. secular

Derived terms

• secularizar
• secularmente

Further reading

• “secular”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “secular”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

?

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey-

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂éytlom

Proto-Italic *saitlom ~ *saiklom

Latin saeculum

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin saecularis

French séculairebor.

Romanian secular

Borrowed from French séculaire, from Latin saecularis.

Adjective

secular m or n (feminine singular seculară, masculine plural seculari, feminine/neuter plural seculare)

1. secular

Declension

Declension of secular

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	secular		seculară	seculari	seculare
	definite	secularul		seculara	secularii	secularele
genitive- dative	indefinite	secular		seculare	seculari	seculare
	definite	secularului		secularei	secularilor	secularelor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *seh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

?

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey-

Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Indo-European *-trom

Proto-Indo-European *-tlom

Proto-Indo-European *sh₂éytlom

Proto-Italic *saitlom ~ *saiklom

Latin saeculum

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin -āris

Latin saeculārislbor.

Spanish secular

Learned borrowing from Latin saeculāris. Doublet of seglar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sekuˈlaɾ/ [se.kuˈlaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: se‧cu‧lar

Adjective

secular m or f (masculine and feminine plural seculares)

1. secular

   Synonym: laico

Derived terms

• secularidad
• secularizar
• secularmente

Further reading

• “secular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026