[ 'sɛkjʊlə ]
■ adjective
1》 not religious, sacred, or spiritual.
2》 Christian Church not subject to or bound by religious rule. Contrasted with regular .
3》 Astronomy of or denoting slow changes in the motion of the sun or planets.
4》 Economics (of a fluctuation or trend) occurring or persisting over an indefinitely long period.
5》 occurring once every century or similarly long period (used especially in reference to celebratory games in ancient Rome).
■ noun a ~ priest.
Derivatives
~ism noun
~ist noun
~ity noun
~ization or ~isation noun
~ize or ~ise verb
~ly adverb
Origin
ME: senses 1 and 2 from OFr. seculer , from L. saecularis , from saeculum 'generation', used in Christian L. to mean 'the world'; senses 3, 4, and 5 (C19) from L. saecularis 'relating to an age or period'.