Saecularis

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A term denoting something belonging to the secular world or temporal concerns rather than religious or spiritual matters
2. Referring to aspects of life that are worldly and disconnected from religious influence, often emphasizing earthly rather than divine affairs
3. Characterizing a viewpoint or mode of existence that prioritizes material or societal elements over spiritual or sacred considerations

Etymology: "Saecularis" is the Latin adjective meaning "of an age" or "of a generation," built from "saeculum," which originally meant a lifespan, a generation, or an age of time. The sense of "belonging to this world rather than the sacred" grew out of Church Latin, where "saecularis" was used to contrast ordinary, temporal life with the eternal, religious realm. Medieval Christian writers used the contrast constantly, distinguishing secular clergy, who lived among ordinary people in the world, from regular clergy, who lived under monastic rules. The modern English adjective "secular" descends from this Latin root through Old French, and its move from "pertaining to an age" to "non-religious" follows that same church contrast. Its opposite was never a neutral "material" category but the sacred or the eternal, which explains why the adjective carries the sense of prioritizing worldly affairs over spiritual ones.

Synonyms: secular, worldly, temporal, nonreligious, lay

Antonyms: religious, spiritual, sacred, holy, ecclesiastical