What does secularizing mean?
Secularizing describes the process of making an institution, practice, or body of thought less religious, or of becoming increasingly detached from religious authority and belief. The word commonly appears in debates about education, government, law, culture, and public life. For example, a movement may be described as secularizing schools by removing religious instruction, while historians may discuss the secularizing effects of industrialization or changing social values. The term can carry either a descriptive meaning, identifying a broad cultural change, or a critical meaning, suggesting that religious traditions and communities are being displaced. It is related to “secular,” which means concerned with worldly rather than specifically religious matters, and to “secularization,” the broader process or result. Because “secularizing” names an active process rather than simply a state, it often emphasizes movement away from religious influence.
To make something secular, especially by reducing its religious character or removing religious influence from it.
"The commission recommended measures to secularize public institutions and separate them from religious authority."
This entry describes the action of causing a secular transformation. The agent of the action is commonly a person, institution, law, or social process.
Characterized by a movement toward secularism or away from religious influence.
"The article examines the secularizing influence of commercial culture on public celebrations."
When used adjectivally, the word may modify “influence,” “trend,” “process,” “effect,” or an institution.
Secularizing names a transformation: the movement of public life, institutions, or ideas away from religious control and toward a more worldly framework.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does secularizing come from?
The word comes from “secularize,” which was formed from “secular” and the suffix “-ize.” “Secular” derives from Latin saeculum, meaning an age, a generation, or the world in the sense of a historical period; in medieval usage it came to contrast worldly life with ecclesiastical or sacred life. English borrowed the word in the Middle English period, and the modern process-related forms developed from this established religious and worldly contrast.
Related word forms
How secularizing is actually used
“Secularizing” is normally used as a present participle or adjective. It is common in political, cultural, religious, and institutional discussions, where it often implies a deliberate shift away from religious influence.
Easily confused with secularizing
“Secular” describes something connected with worldly or nonreligious matters, whereas “secularizing” describes the process of making something less religious.