secular

secular
    adj 1: of or relating to the doctrine that rejects religion and
           religious considerations
    2: characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed
       to the spiritual world; "worldly goods and advancement";
       "temporal possessions of the church" [syn: {worldly},
       {secular}, {temporal}] [ant: {unworldly}]
    3: not concerned with or devoted to religion; "sacred and
       profane music"; "secular drama"; "secular architecture",
       "children being brought up in an entirely profane
       environment" [syn: {profane}, {secular}] [ant: {sacred}]
    4: of or relating to clergy not bound by monastic vows; "the
       secular clergy" [ant: {religious}]
    5: characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy;
       "set his collar in laic rather than clerical position"; "the
       lay ministry" [syn: {laic}, {lay}, {secular}]
    n 1: someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
         [syn: {layman}, {layperson}, {secular}] [ant: {clergyman},
         {man of the cloth}, {reverend}]
    

Secular \Sec"u*lar\, a. [OE. secular, seculer. L. saecularis,
   fr. saeculum a race, generation, age, the times, the world;
   perhaps akin to E. soul: cf. F. s['e]culier.]
   1. Coming or observed once in an age or a century.
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            The secular year was kept but once a century.
                                                  --Addison.
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   2. Pertaining to an age, or the progress of ages, or to a
      long period of time; accomplished in a long progress of
      time; as, secular inequality; the secular refrigeration of
      the globe.
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   3. Of or pertaining to this present world, or to things not
      spiritual or holy; relating to temporal as distinguished
      from eternal interests; not immediately or primarily
      respecting the soul, but the body; worldly.
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            New foes arise,
            Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains.
                                                  --Milton.
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   4. (Eccl.) Not regular; not bound by monastic vows or rules;
      not confined to a monastery, or subject to the rules of a
      religious community; as, a secular priest.
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            He tried to enforce a stricter discipline and
            greater regard for morals, both in the religious
            orders and the secular clergy.        --Prescott.
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   5. Belonging to the laity; lay; not clerical.
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            I speak of folk in secular estate.    --Chaucer.
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   {Secular equation} (Astron.), the algebraic or numerical
      expression of the magnitude of the inequalities in a
      planet's motion that remain after the inequalities of a
      short period have been allowed for.

   {Secular games} (Rom. Antiq.), games celebrated, at long but
      irregular intervals, for three days and nights, with
      sacrifices, theatrical shows, combats, sports, and the
      like.

   {Secular music}, any music or songs not adapted to sacred
      uses.

   {Secular hymn} or {Secular poem}, a hymn or poem composed for
      the secular games, or sung or rehearsed at those games.
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Secular \Sec"u*lar\, n.
   1. (Eccl.) A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by
      monastic rules. --Burke.
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   2. (Eccl.) A church official whose functions are confined to
      the vocal department of the choir. --Busby.
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   3. A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.
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117 Moby Thesaurus words for "secular":
      Philistine, annual, biannual, biennial, bimonthly, biweekly,
      bodily, brother, carnal, carnal-minded, catamenial, catechumen,
      centenary, centennial, centesimal, centigrado, centuple,
      centuplicate, centurial, church member, churchman, churchwoman,
      civil, communicant, congregational, corporal, corporeal, daily,
      decennial, diurnal, down-to-earth, earthly, earthy, fleshly,
      fortnightly, hardheaded, hebdomadal, hourly, hundredfold,
      hundredth, hylic, laic, laical, lay, lay brother, lay sister,
      layman, laywoman, material, materialistic, materiate,
      matter-of-fact, menstrual, momentary, momently, monthly, mundane,
      nonclerical, nonecclesiastical, nonministerial, nonordained,
      nonpastoral, nonreligious, nonsacred, nonspiritual, parishioner,
      physical, popular, positivistic, practical, practical-minded,
      pragmatic, profane, quarterly, quotidian, rational, realist,
      realistic, reasonable, reprobate, sane, scientific, scientistic,
      secularist, secularistic, semestral, semiannual, semimonthly,
      semiweekly, semiyearly, sensible, sister, sober-minded, somatic,
      sound, sound-thinking, state, straight-thinking, substantial,
      temporal, terrestrial, tertian, triennial, unblessed, unhallowed,
      unholy, unideal, unidealistic, unregenerate, unromantic, unsacred,
      unsanctified, unsentimental, unspiritual, weekly, worldly,
      yearly