secularly
Adverb: In a manner relating to the secular world, as opposed to religious or spiritual matters; in a way that is not connected with religion or ecclesiastical authority.
- (The institution functions in a non-religious manner.)
- (She was brought up without religious influence.)
- (The government acts in a way that keeps religion out of public affairs.)
"to act secularly": to behave or make decisions based on worldly, non-religious considerations.
- The committee decided secularly, focusing on legal rather than moral arguments. (They made a decision based on practical, non-religious factors.)
"secularly oriented": having a primary focus on worldly matters rather than spiritual ones.
- The curriculum is secularly oriented, emphasizing science and history over theology. (The educational program prioritizes non-religious subjects.)
- Secular (adj): not connected with religious or spiritual matters.
- The school is a secular institution. (It is not affiliated with any religion.)
- Secularism (n): the principle of separation of government and religion; a belief system that rejects religious involvement in public life.
- Secularism is a key concept in modern democracies. (The separation of church and state is important in many governments.)
- Secularize (v): to make something secular; to remove religious influence from something.
- The government decided to secularize the education system. (They removed religious teachings from schools.)
- Worldly: relating to the material or temporal world, as opposed to spiritual.
- Non-religiously: in a way that is not based on religion.
- Temporally: in a manner concerned with the present life or earthly matters.
"In the secular sphere": within the domain of non-religious life.
- The debate took place in the secular sphere, not in religious circles. (The discussion happened among non-religious groups.)
"On secular grounds": based on reasons unrelated to religion.
- The law was challenged on secular grounds. (The challenge was based on non-religious principles.)
The Vietnamese dictionary definition provided (meaning "every hundred years," "for centuries," or "long-standing") is a less common, historical usage of "secularly," derived from the Latin "saeculum" meaning "age" or "generation." In modern English, the primary meaning is the one explained above, relating to non-religious matters. The archaic sense of "occurring once in a century" is now rarely used, except in specialized historical or astronomical contexts (e.g., "secularly periodic events").