secularization

noun

sec·​u·​lar·​i·​za·​tion ˌse-kyə-lə-rə-ˈzā-shən 

: the act or process of making something secular or of becoming secular : removal from ecclesiastical or clerical use or influence

… the secularization of the convent next to his house on the Connecticut shore …

—William R. Everdell

Because of this disarming of church and clergy, when the young people of New England began to kick up their heels in the last decades of the eighteenth century there was no church power to do more than scold them. The real sexual revolution in early America was the secularization of morality.

—Edmund S. Morgan

The current model of school secularization is built on the premise that the removal of controversial worldview perspectives produces a neutral secular school.

—Craig S. Engelhardt

Examples of secularization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But in 1760 or so, France’s turn toward secularization lifted this taboo, and fertility started to fall. —Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 26 Sep. 2024

The rise of social media, meanwhile, has only accelerated the march of secularization, pluralism, inclusivity, and cultural openness—on the right as much as the left. —Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 19 Aug. 2024

The Past Does secularization cause population decline? —Big Think, 24 June 2024

Internally, Iran grappled with rising secularization, putting society at odds with the government. —Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, Foreign Affairs, 24 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1699, in the meaning defined above