dechristianization
- noun
- /ˌdiːˌkrɪs.tʃən.aɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/
- Formal
:
descristianización
- The dechristianization of many European societies has led to significant changes in cultural values.
Examples
-
Keywords: dechristianization; Delumeau, Jean; fait religieux; fear in religion.
Academic text (2010) -
Distinguished historian Jean Delumeau describes the memorable influences and experiences over the course of his long career, including mentors, research directions, central themes of Christianization and dechristianization, major publications and their reception, and teaching emphases.
Academic text (2010) -
The second major theme is dechristianization.
Academic text (2010) -
Only quite poor observers of our times will fail to see that positivism is thus gaining ground, as its founder repeatedly predicted, far less by any conquest over former "metaphysicians" or "revolutionaries" than by a slow and imperceptible dechristianization of a large number of Catholic souls.
Academic text (1990) -
My history teacher in the première supérieure at Marseille was a devout Catholic who was fascinated by dechristianization, which manifested itself publicly in France for the first time during the Revolution.
Academic text (2010) -
During the Enlightenment, dechristianization became a key aspect of intellectual thought and social reform.
-
The rise of secularism has been linked to the gradual dechristianization of institutions around the world.
Synonyms
3
7.7
A process where society, schools, or art become less controlled by religion
1
8.7
Ending an official link between a church and the government
The act of making institutions free from religious control
A loss of spiritual meaning or feeling in daily life
To remove a building's religious status so it can be used for other things
How Christian
Surface Forms
Morphology
dechristianization = Christianization (semi-transparent) = de + christian + ization
Removing de- from 'Christianization' clearly yields the sense of reversing or reducing Christian influence, but the base noun is an abstract technical term rather than a very basic everyday word.
Etymology
Dechristianization breaks into three parts: de- meaning 'remove' or 'from', Christian meaning 'about the Christian religion', and -ization meaning 'action or process', so the word means the process of removing Christian beliefs or influence.