What is the difference between sacred and secular?
sacred | secular |
Set apart by solemn religious ceremony; especially, in a good sense, made holy; set apart to religious use; consecrated; not profane or common; as, a sacred' place; a '''sacred''' day; ' sacred service.
Relating to religion, or to the services of religion; not secular; religious; as, sacred history.
Designated or exalted by a divine sanction; possessing the highest title to obedience, honor, reverence, or veneration; entitled to extreme reverence; venerable.
Hence, not to be profaned or violated; inviolable.
Consecrated; dedicated; devoted; -- with to.
(archaic) Solemnly devoted, in a bad sense, as to evil, vengeance, curse, or the like; accursed; baleful.
(sacre)
Not specifically religious.
Temporal; something that is worldly or otherwise not based on something timeless.
(Christianity) Not bound by the vows of a monastic order.
Happening once in an age or century.
Continuing over a long period of time, long-term.
* 2006 , The Economist,
(literary) Centuries-old, ancient.
* 1899 ,
(astrophysics) Of or pertaining to long-term non-periodic irregularities, especially in planetary motion.
(atomic physics) Unperturbed over time.
* 2000 , S. A. Dikanov, Two-dimensional ESEEM Spectroscopy'', in ''New Advances in Analytical Chemistry (Atta-ur-Rahman, ed.), page 539
A secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.
A church official whose functions are confined to the vocal department of the choir.
A layman, as distinguished from a clergyman.
Secular is a antonym of sacred.
As adjectives the difference between sacred and secular
is that sacred is set apart by solemn religious ceremony; especially, in a good sense, made holy; set apart to religious use; consecrated; not profane or common; as, a sacred place; a sacred day; sacred service while secular is not specifically religious.As a verb sacred
is past tense of sacre.As a noun secular is
a secular ecclesiastic, or one not bound by monastic rules.sacred
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) sacred, isacred, past participle of (etyl) sacren, .Adjective
(en adjective)- Smit with the love of sacred song. -.
- Such neighbor nearness to our sacred [royal] blood Should nothing privilege him.
- Poet and saint to thee alone were given, The two most sacred names of earth and heaven. -Cowley.
- Secrets of marriage still are sacred held. -.
- A temple, sacred to the queen of love. -.
- But, to destruction sacred and devote. -.
Synonyms
* (made holy) (dedicated) consecrated * divine * godly * hallowed * holy * (not to be profaned) inviolable * sacrosanctAntonyms
* cursed * damned * profane * unholy * ungodlyEtymology 2
Verb
(head)Anagrams
*secular
English
Alternative forms
* (archaic)Adjective
(en adjective)- secular clergy in Catholicism
- The secular games of ancient Rome were held to mark the end of a saeculum and the beginning of the next.
- The long-term growth in population and income accounts for most secular trends in economic phenomena.
- ''on a secular basis
Economics focus: Dividing the pie
- The skewed distribution of productivity gains is thus less a new phenomenon than a secular trend.
- The long reaches that were like one and the same reach, monotonous bends that were exactly alike, slipped past the steamer with their multitude of secular trees looking patiently after this grimy fragment of another world, the forerunner of change, of conquest, of trade, of massacres, of blessings.
- The secular A and nonsecular B parts of hyperfine interaction for any particular frequencies ?? and ?? are derived from eqn.(21) by ...
Synonyms
* (not religious) worldlyAntonyms
* nonsecular * (not religious) religious * (not religious) sacred (used especially of music) * (not bound by monastic vows) monastic * (not bound by monastic vows) regular (as regular clergy in Catholicism) * eternal, everlasting * frequent * unpredictable * non-recurring * (finance) short-term * (finance) cyclicalReferences
*Webster's English Dictionary
Noun
(en noun)- (Burke)
- (Busby)