Search Result for "secular": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person;
[syn: layman, layperson, secular]


ADJECTIVE (5)

1. of or relating to the doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations;

2. characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world;
- Example: "worldly goods and advancement"
- Example: "temporal possessions of the church"
[syn: worldly, secular, temporal]

3. not concerned with or devoted to religion;
- Example: "sacred and profane music"
- Example: "secular drama"
- Example: "secular architecture", "children being brought up in an entirely profane environment"
[syn: profane, secular]

4. of or relating to clergy not bound by monastic vows;
- Example: "the secular clergy"

5. characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy;
- Example: "set his collar in laic rather than clerical position"
- Example: "the lay ministry"
[syn: laic, lay, secular]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Secular \Sec"u*lar\, a. [OE. secular, seculer. L. saecularis, fr. saeculum a race, generation, age, the times, the world; perhaps akin to E. soul: cf. F. s['e]culier.] 1. Coming or observed once in an age or a century. [1913 Webster] The secular year was kept but once a century. --Addison. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] New foes arise, Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] He tried to enforce a stricter discipline and greater regard for morals, both in the religious orders and the secular clergy. --Prescott. [1913 Webster] 5. Belonging to the laity; lay; not clerical. [1913 Webster] I speak of folk in secular estate. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Secular \Sec"u*lar\, n. 1. (Eccl.) A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules. --Burke. [1913 Webster] 2. (Eccl.) A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir. --Busby. [1913 Webster] 3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

secular adj 1: of or relating to the doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations 2: characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world; "worldly goods and advancement"; "temporal possessions of the church" [syn: worldly, secular, temporal] [ant: unworldly] 3: not concerned with or devoted to religion; "sacred and profane music"; "secular drama"; "secular architecture", "children being brought up in an entirely profane environment" [syn: profane, secular] [ant: sacred] 4: of or relating to clergy not bound by monastic vows; "the secular clergy" [ant: religious] 5: characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy; "set his collar in laic rather than clerical position"; "the lay ministry" [syn: laic, lay, secular] n 1: someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person [syn: layman, layperson, secular] [ant: clergyman, man of the cloth, reverend]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

117 Moby Thesaurus words for "secular": Philistine, annual, biannual, biennial, bimonthly, biweekly, bodily, brother, carnal, carnal-minded, catamenial, catechumen, centenary, centennial, centesimal, centigrado, centuple, centuplicate, centurial, church member, churchman, churchwoman, civil, communicant, congregational, corporal, corporeal, daily, decennial, diurnal, down-to-earth, earthly, earthy, fleshly, fortnightly, hardheaded, hebdomadal, hourly, hundredfold, hundredth, hylic, laic, laical, lay, lay brother, lay sister, layman, laywoman, material, materialistic, materiate, matter-of-fact, menstrual, momentary, momently, monthly, mundane, nonclerical, nonecclesiastical, nonministerial, nonordained, nonpastoral, nonreligious, nonsacred, nonspiritual, parishioner, physical, popular, positivistic, practical, practical-minded, pragmatic, profane, quarterly, quotidian, rational, realist, realistic, reasonable, reprobate, sane, scientific, scientistic, secularist, secularistic, semestral, semiannual, semimonthly, semiweekly, semiyearly, sensible, sister, sober-minded, somatic, sound, sound-thinking, state, straight-thinking, substantial, temporal, terrestrial, tertian, triennial, unblessed, unhallowed, unholy, unideal, unidealistic, unregenerate, unromantic, unsacred, unsanctified, unsentimental, unspiritual, weekly, worldly, yearly