Search Result for "secularize": 
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (2)

1. make secular and draw away from a religious orientation;
- Example: "Ataturk secularized Turkey"
[syn: secularize, secularise]

2. transfer from ecclesiastical to civil possession, use, or control;
[syn: desacralize, secularize]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Secularize \Sec"u*lar*ize\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Secularized; p. pr. & vb. n. Secularizing.] [Cf. F. s['e]culariser.] 1. To convert from regular or monastic into secular; as, to secularize a priest or a monk. [1913 Webster] 2. To convert from spiritual to secular or common use; as, to secularize a church, or church property. [1913 Webster] At the Reformation the abbey was secularized. --W. Coxe. [1913 Webster] 3. To make worldly or unspiritual. --Bp. Horsley. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

secularize v 1: make secular and draw away from a religious orientation; "Ataturk secularized Turkey" [syn: secularize, secularise] 2: transfer from ecclesiastical to civil possession, use, or control [syn: desacralize, secularize]