secularize

[ sek-yuh-luh-rahyz ]

verb (used with object),sec·u·lar·ized, sec·u·lar·iz·ing.
  1. to make secular; separate from religious or spiritual connection or influences; make worldly or unspiritual; imbue with secularism.

  2. to change (clergy) from regular to secular.

  1. to transfer (property) from ecclesiastical to civil possession or use.

Origin of secularize

1
First recorded in 1605–15; secular + -ize
  • Also especially British, sec·u·lar·ise .

Other words from secularize

  • sec·u·lar·i·za·tion [sek-yuh-luh-rahy-zey-shuhn] /ˌsɛk yə lə raɪˈzeɪ ʃən/ noun
  • sec·u·lar·iz·er, noun
  • o·ver·sec·u·lar·ize, verb (used with object), o·ver·sec·u·lar·ized, o·ver·sec·u·lar·iz·ing.
  • un·sec·u·lar·ized, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use secularize in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for secularize

secularize

secularise

/ (ˈsɛkjʊləˌraɪz) /


verb(tr)
  1. to change from religious or sacred to secular functions, etc

  2. to dispense from allegiance to a religious order

  1. law to transfer (property) from ecclesiastical to civil possession or use

  2. English legal history to transfer (an offender) from the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts to that of the civil courts for the imposition of a more severe punishment

Derived forms of secularize

  • secularization or secularisation, noun
  • secularizer or seculariser, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012