What does secularization mean?
Secularization is the process through which religious influence becomes less prominent in public institutions, social practices, or everyday life. It may refer to a deliberate policy, as when a government removes religious symbols or requirements from state institutions, or to a broader social development, such as declining participation in organized religion and changing attitudes toward religious authority. In either setting, the term describes a transition rather than the simple presence or absence of religion. Secularization is often associated with the separation of government from religious institutions, but it can also apply to education, the workplace, the arts, and other areas of public life. The concept is especially common in sociology, political science, history, and religious studies. It should not be confused with secularism, which names the principle that religion and government should remain separate. Although secularization does not necessarily eliminate private religious belief, it can change the relationship between religious organizations and public authority.
nounThe process of making something less religious or removing religious influence from institutions, practices, or society. It can also refer more broadly to the declining influence of religion in public life.
- The process of making an institution, organization, practice, or society less religious or removing its religious character.
- The broader historical or social process by which the influence of religion declines, especially in government and public institutions.
"The gradual secularization of public institutions has changed the role of religious organizations in civic life."
"The secularization of the education system limited the influence of religious instruction."
"Researchers debate whether secularization in Europe has slowed or merely taken a different form."
Plural is used when referring to distinct processes of secularization in different societies, institutions, or historical periods.
"The study compares the secularizations of education systems across several European countries."
Secularization describes one of history’s great shifts: the gradual movement of schools, governments, and public life beyond religious authority.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does secularization come from?
Secularization was formed in English from secular and the suffix -ization, a convention for naming a process or action. Secular came through Old French from Latin saecularis, derived from saeculum, meaning an age, generation, lifetime, or world. Latin saeculum also gave English the word century and contributed to the broader distinction between material or worldly affairs and explicitly religious ones.
Related word forms
How secularization is actually used
The term is commonly used in academic, historical, religious, and political contexts. It describes a process rather than merely the existence of a religious institution, and it is not necessarily used to suggest that religion has disappeared or that religious belief has become less sincere.
Easily confused with secularization
Secularism is the principle or policy that religion should be separate from government and public institutions, whereas secularization is the process through which religious influence in those areas diminishes.