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Webster 1913 Edition


Secular

Sec′u-lar

,
Adj.
[OE.
secular
,
seculer
. L.
saecularis
, fr.
saeculum
a race, generation, age, the times, the world; perhaps akin to E.
soul
: cf. F.
séculier
.]
1.
Coming or observed once in an age or a century.
The
secular
year was kept but once a century.
Addison.
2.
Pertaining to an age, or the progress of ages, or to a long period of time; accomplished in a long progress of time;
as,
secular
inequality; the
secular
refrigeration of the globe
.
3.
Of or pertaining to this present world, or to things not spiritual or holy; relating to temporal as distinguished from eternal interests; not immediately or primarily respecting the soul, but the body; worldly.
New foes arise,
Threatening to bind our souls with
secular
chains.
Milton.
4.
(Eccl.)
Not regular; not bound by monastic vows or rules; not confined to a monastery, or subject to the rules of a religious community;
as, a
secular
priest
.
He tried to enforce a stricter discipline and greater regard for morals, both in the religious orders and the
secular
clergy.
Prescott.
5.
Belonging to the laity; lay; not clerical.
I speak of folk in
secular
estate.
Chaucer.
Secular equation
(Astron.)
,
the algebraic or numerical expression of the magnitude of the inequalities in a planet’s motion that remain after the inequalities of a short period have been allowed for.
Secular games
(Rom. Antiq.)
,
games celebrated, at long but irregular intervals, for three days and nights, with sacrifices, theatrical shows, combats, sports, and the like.
Secular music
,
any music or songs not adapted to sacred uses.
Secular hymn
or
Secular poem
,
a hymn or poem composed for the secular games, or sung or rehearsed at those games.

Sec′u-lar

,
Noun.
1.
(Eccl.)
A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.
Burke.
2.
(Eccl.)
A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir.
Busby.
3.
A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Webster 1828 Edition


Secular

SEC'ULAR

,
Adj.
[L. secularis, from seculum, the world or an age.]
1. Pertaining to the present world, or to things not spiritual or holy; relating to things not immediately or primarily respecting the soul, but the body; worldly. The secular concerns of life respect making making provision for the support of life, the preservation of health, the temporal prosperity of men, of states, &c. Secular power is that which superintends and governs the temporal affairs of men, the civil or political power; and is contradistinguished from spiritual or ecclsiastical power.
2. Among catholics, not regular; not bound by monastic vows or rules; not confines to a monastery or subject to the rules of a religious community. Thus we say, the secular clergy and the regular clergy.
3. Coming once in a century; as a secular year.

Definition 2024


secular

secular

English

Alternative forms

Adjective

secular (comparative more secular, superlative most secular)

  1. Not specifically religious.
  2. Temporal; worldly, or otherwise not based on something timeless.
  3. (Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.
    secular clergy in Catholicism
  4. 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.
  5. 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
  6. (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.
  7. (astrophysics, geology) Relating to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion or magnetic field.
  8. (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 ...

Derived terms

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

References

Noun

secular (plural seculars)

  1. A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Burke to this entry?)
  2. 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?)
  3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.

Translations

Anagrams


Portuguese

Adjective

secular (plural seculares, comparable)

  1. secular

Spanish

Adjective

secular m, f (plural seculares)

  1. secular