Where does “secularism” come from?
Secularism comes from English secular plus the suffix -ism, derived from Ancient Greek -ισμός, ultimately tracing through Latin saecularis and its adjectival suffix -aris to Proto-Indo-European -li-.
secularism (English): Neutrality towards all religions; The political...
Definitions
- Neutrality towards all religions; The political...
Ancestry of “secularism”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | secular | Not specifically religious; lay or civil, as... |
| 2 | English | -ly | Used to form adjectives from nouns, the... |
| 3 | English | grisly | Horrifyingly repellent; gruesome, terrifying;... |
| 4 | Middle English | grisely | — |
| 5 | Old English | grisliċ | grisly, horrible; dreadful, horrid |
| 6 | Old English | -līċ | suffix forming {{glossary|adjective}}s meaning... |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *-līk | — |