What does secular mean?
Secular is most often used to distinguish matters of this world from matters of religion or spirituality. A secular government, school, or law is not institutionally tied to religious authority, while secular music or art is understood as non-sacred rather than necessarily hostile to religion. The word can also describe clergy who belong to no religious order, and in older English it had the additional sense of lasting a long time. As a noun, secular is rare and may refer to such clergy or, collectively, to worldly affairs. In everyday argument, secular is sometimes treated as though it meant anti-religious, but the distinction matters: secularism is a position or policy, whereas secularity is the condition of not being religious. Likewise, secular is broader than worldly because it usually emphasizes the separation of religion from civic or institutional life.
Relating to worldly or temporal affairs rather than religious or spiritual ones; independent of religious authority. In older usage, it can also mean long-lasting.
"The country adopted a secular constitution that guaranteed freedom of religion without establishing a state church."
Secular describes a relationship to religion rather than necessarily expressing opposition to it.
A member of the clergy not belonging to a religious order; collectively, clergy outside religious orders.
"The glossary distinguishes seculars from members of religious orders."
This noun use is rare and chiefly encountered in historical, legal, or ecclesiastical contexts.
The plural is rarely needed in modern writing because the noun itself is uncommon.
"The glossary distinguishes seculars from members of religious orders."
The word now contrasts earth with heaven, but its Latin ancestor simply meant an age or generation—the stretch of time in which a world unfolds.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does secular come from?
The word entered English in the early 16th century from Latin saecularis, meaning “of or pertaining to an age, generation, or world.” Latin saeculum originally denoted a generation or long period and came to stand for the world considered in contrast to spiritual or ecclesiastical concerns. The distinction between the world and religious institutions also accounts for the word's historical use for clergy outside religious orders.
Related word forms
How secular is actually used
In political and institutional contexts, secular usually describes separation from religious authority, not hostility toward religion. It is common in formal writing; worldly can carry a more evaluative sense of concern with material or immediate interests. As a noun, secular is uncommon in contemporary general English.