secularize
secularize Lexical Profile
secularize Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To dissociate or separate from religious or spiritual connection, influence, or control.
"Reforms in the nineteenth century sought to secularize public education across the country."
To transfer (ecclesiastical property or institutions) from religious or church ownership to civil use or authority.
"The newly established republic voted to secularize the vast estates previously held by the monasteries."
To release (a member of a religious order) from monastic vows so they may serve as a secular cleric or layperson.
"He petitioned the bishop to secularize him so that he could serve as a parish priest in his hometown."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from French séculariser, formed from the Late Latin adjective saecularis ('worldly'), originally referring in canon law to transferring a monk from a monastic order to the secular clergy.