Secularize
/ˈsɛkjʊləˌraɪz/noun
To make something nonreligious or separate it from church control.
Did you know?It comes from Latin saeculum, meaning an “age” or “worldly generation,” so the word’s deepest root is about time, life, and the human world—not holiness.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*s(e)ik-
“to pour out; to set aside”
Latin
Latin
saeculum
“an age, generation, or the worldly present”
Late Latin
Latin
saecularis
“of an age; worldly; not monastic”
Medieval Latin
Latin
saecularizare
“to make secular; to transfer from ecclesiastical to lay use”
16th Century
English
secularize
“to remove from religious or ecclesiastical control”
Modern English
English
secularize
“to make nonreligious or separate from church authority”
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