secularism
SEK-yoo-luh-riz-um
/ˈsɛkjʊlərɪzəm/
The principle of separation of the state and civil affairs from religious institutions.
Emphasizes state neutrality toward religion to ensure equal freedom for all faiths, rather than hostility toward religion itself.
The story behind the word. The Latin noun 'saeculum' meant a human generation or a period of roughly 100 years—the maximum span of a single human life. Christian writers used 'saecularis' to contrast worldly, temporal affairs occurring in human time ('the present age') with heavenly, eternal realities. By the 19th century, reformer George Jacob Holyoake coined 'secularism' to advocate for civic laws based on temporal human welfare rather than divine revelation.
Word relationships
- laicism: Laicism (from French laïcité) denotes a strict enforcement of religious absence from public institutions, popular in French law.
- theocracy: Theocracy integrates religious power directly into state authority, the direct opposite of secularism.
Commonly confused with
- atheism: Secularism is a political framework for neutral government, while atheism is a personal disbelief in deities.
Word family
- secular (adjective): Not connected with religious or spiritual matters.
- secularist (noun): An advocate of secularism.
- secularize (verb): To convert from religious to civil control.
Collocations
- constitutional secularism
- principle of secularism
- assert secularism
- secularism and democracy
Idioms & expressions
- separation of church and state
Example sentences
- "George Jacob Holyoake coined the term 'secularism' in 1851 to describe a social order separate from religion without being actively anti-religious." Historical Citation (George Jacob Holyoake, Principles of Secularism (1851))
- "Indian constitutional secularism guarantees that the state maintains equal distance from all religious communities." Constitutional Law
Memory hook
SECULAR concerns the PRESENT AGE (saeculum), not eternal life. Governing for this world, right now.
When not to use
Do not confuse with atheism; secularism governs public state institutions, whereas atheism is a personal absence of belief.
Fun facts
- In modern French, the century itself is called 'un siècle', deriving straight from the same root saeculum!
Explore more words
secularization, secular, separatism, anticlerical, irreligion, laicization
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