secularism

English

Etymology

From secular +‎ -ism.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛkjʊləˌɹɪzəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

secularism (countable and uncountable, plural secularisms)

1. Neutrality towards all religions.

   state secularism

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Quarians: Religion Codex entry:

     The ancient quarians practiced ancestor worship. Even after abandoning faith for secularism, quarians continued to revere the wisdom of elders.

2. The political belief in the separation of church and state, i.e. the position that religious belief should not influence public and governmental decisions.
   • 1870, Secularism. Report of a public discussion between the Rev. Alexander J. Harrison and Mr. Charles Bradlaugh held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on Sept. 13 & 14, 1870‎^[1], page 72:

     And I have further to say, that I believe as much as Mr. Bradlaugh, or any other man in the room, in freethought; and I invite every Secularist to break off from him for ever the shackles that bind him in the superstition of his Secularism.

Synonyms

• laicity (esp. in France); statism (obs.)

Related terms

• secularist
• secularity
• secularization
• secularize

Translations

neutrality towards all religions

• Arabic: عَلْمَانِيَّة f (ʕalmāniyya), لَائِكِيَّة f (lāʔikiyya), دُنيانِيَّة f
• Azerbaijani: dünyəvilik (az), sekulyarizm
• Bulgarian: секуларизъм m (sekularizǎm)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 世俗主義 / 世俗主义 (shìsúzhǔyì)

• Danish: sekularisme c
• Dutch: secularisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: sekulareco
• Finnish: sekularismi (fi)
• French: laïcité (fr) f, sécularisme (fr) m
• Georgian: სეკულარიზმი (seḳularizmi)
• German: Säkularismus (de) m, Laizität (de) f
• Greek: κοσμικισμός (el) m (kosmikismós)
• Indonesian: sekularisme, paham sekuler
• Italian: laicità (it) f, secolarismo (it) m
• Japanese: 世俗主義 (せぞくしゅぎ, sezokushugi)
• Korean: 세속주의(世俗主義) (sesokjuui)
• Malay: sekularisme, faham sekularis, kedisinikinian
• Persian: سکولاریسم (fa)
• Polish: sekularyzm m
• Portuguese: laicidade f, secularismo m
• Romanian: laicitate f, secularism n
• Russian: секуляри́зм (ru) m (sekuljarízm)
• Spanish: laicidad f, secularismo (es) m
• Thai: ฆราวาส (th) (ká-raa-wâat)
• Turkish: laiklik (tr), sekülerizm (tr)
• Ukrainian: секуляризм m (sekuljaryzm)
• Urdu: علمانیت (almāniyat), سیکیولرزم, سیکولرزم, گیتی گرائی (gētī garāī), دنیا گرائی (duniyā garāī)
• Uzbek: dunyoviylik (uz)
• Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa thế tục (主義世俗), thế tục chủ nghĩa (世俗主義)

the political belief in the separation of church and state

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 政教分離 / 政教分离 (zing³ gaau³ fan¹ lei⁴)

  Mandarin: 政教分離 / 政教分离 (zh) (zhèngjiào fēnlí)

• Finnish: sekularismi (fi)
• French: laïcisme (fr) m
• Spanish: laicismo (es) m

See also

• agnosticism
• atheism
• humanism
• laicism