Etymograph

English

secular

Secular comes from Latin saeculāris ‘of the age’, from saeculum ‘race, breed’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *saiklom.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*saiklom1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaeculum2‘race, breed’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaeculāris2‘of the age’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400seculer2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500seculer2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1790secular2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin saeculum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English secular
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “On further examination, I found the clergy, in general,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*saiklomWiktionary, Latin saeculumreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaeculumWiktionary, English secular‘race, breed’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsaeculārisWiktionary, English secular‘of the age’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400seculerWiktionary, English secular
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500seculerWiktionary, English secular
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1790secularWiktionary, English secular. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “On further examination, I found the clergy, in general,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *seh₂- ‘to satiate’

sad, insane, sane, sanity, saturation, sanitary, insatiable, sade, hadron, saturate, satiety, satiate, 18 more

through Proto-Indo-European *sh₂ey- ‘to bind, knit, tie together, tie to, connect’

soy, seta, 7 more

Today it means

adj Not specifically religious; lay or civil, as opposed to clerical.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “secular”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin saeculum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *saiklom / secular

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