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Glite Dictionary
to secularize

to secularize

4 7.6
To remove religious control from places like schools or hospitals
  • verb
  • /ˈsɛkjʊləˌraɪz/
translation icon : desacralizar
  • The government decided to secularize the public schools, removing any religious symbols and teachings.
  • secularized society
  • secularized version
  • secularized culture

So there was this this big push to sort of secularize philosophy.

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Examples

  • For example, in the secularized northern European cultures, religion sometimes seems barely present.

    Academic text (2006)

  • And the secularizing effect also applies to other minority groups.

    Stanford

  • So there was this this big push to sort of secularize philosophy.

    Gregory B. Sadler - That Philosophy Guy

  • What's behind the Religious Right's drive to secularize their central symbol?

    Academic text (2011)

  • There is no reason why human beings should not secularize Christian morality and achieve for themselves what God allegedly promised.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Is the nation becoming so secularized that it risks the very judgment of God?

    Academic text (1996)

  • Staying true to one's faith in a secularized world can often be a challenge.

    Blog text (25)

  • The problem is that even in its secularized form, Christmas is not religiously neutral.

    Academic text (1992)

  • Observing that the industrialized West has secularized can also be misleading.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Nevertheless, most Bosnian Muslims remained highly secularized and largely supportive of the Yugoslav state.

    Academic text (1996)

Synonyms

to desacralize
vsto secularize
  • Formal
1 9.9

Remove religious use from a place or object so people can use it for ordinary things

is broader, also removing religious influence or meaning
to laicize
vsto secularize
  • Formal
1 9.9

To make a person or institution non-religious by removing their church role

is used mainly for people or institutions, not general property
to deconsecrate
vsto secularize
  • Formal
1 9.9

Officially say that a place such as a church or altar is no longer holy

is used more broadly and not limited to formal ceremonies
to unsanctify
vsto secularize
9.5

To stop something being treated as sacred so it can be used for normal purposes

focuses on removing institutional control and making things nonreligious

How Sacred

to consecrate
  • Formal
33 7.4
to sanctify
24 7.4
to dedicate
284 3.7
to secularize
4 7.6
to desacralize
  • Formal
1 9.9
to profane
4 7.2

Surface Forms

secularize infinitive
secularized past
secularized past participle
secularizing present participle
secularizes third person singular

Morphology

secularize = secular (transparent) = secular + ize

Formed by the productive verb-forming suffix '-ize' added to 'secular', meaning 'to make or become secular', which is straightforward for learners.

Etymology

Secularize comes from secular, which comes from the Latin saeculum meaning 'world' or 'age', and the ending -ize which means 'to make'. So, to secularize something is to make it 'worldly' or 'non-religious', like taking it out of religious control.