secular

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun someone who is not a clergyman or a professional person
adjective of or relating to the doctrine that rejects religion and religious considerations
adjective characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world as opposed to the spiritual world

From Middle English seculer, from Old French seculer, from Latin saeculāris (“of the age”), from saeculum.

Ways Sacred and Secular XVI. — Wanderfoot (The Dream Ship), Cynthia Stockley
"Only in so far as the spiritual order is superior to the secular." — The Loyalist: A Story of the American Revolution, James Francis Barrett
The Secular Clergy of Liverpool amounted in 1864 to 103, and of Salford to 76. — Apologia pro vita sua : $b being a history of his religious opinions, John Henry Newman

layman, layperson

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