[syn: desacralize, secularize]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Secularize \Sec"u*lar*ize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Secularized;
p. pr. & vb. n. Secularizing.] [Cf. F. s['e]culariser.]
1. To convert from regular or monastic into secular; as, to
secularize a priest or a monk.
[1913 Webster]
2. To convert from spiritual to secular or common use; as, to
secularize a church, or church property.
[1913 Webster]
At the Reformation the abbey was secularized. --W.
Coxe.
[1913 Webster]
3. To make worldly or unspiritual. --Bp. Horsley.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
secularize
v 1: make secular and draw away from a religious orientation;
"Ataturk secularized Turkey" [syn: secularize,
secularise]
2: transfer from ecclesiastical to civil possession, use, or
control [syn: desacralize, secularize]