Contextualizebeta

profane

adj
/pɹəˈfeɪn/UK

Etymology

From Middle French prophane, from Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”), from pro- (“instead of”) + fānum (“temple”).

  1. derived from profānus — “not religious, unclean”
  2. derived from prophane

Definitions

  1. Unclean

    Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.

    • Nothing is profane that serveth to the use of holy things.

  2. Not sacred or holy, unconsecrated

    Not sacred or holy, unconsecrated; relating to non-religious matters, secular.

    • profane authors
    • A sonnet in praise of Rome was accepted as the effusion of genius and gratitude; and after the whole procession had visited the Vatican, the profane wreath was suspended before the shrine.
    • The sacred is the emotional force which connects the part to the whole; the profane or the secular is that which has been broken off from, or has fallen off, its emotional bond to the universe.

  3. Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn

    Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn; blasphemous, impious.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Irreverent in language

      Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain.

      • a profane person, word, oath, or tongue
      • the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane
      • When asked to explain why he became a landlord, he told the Archbishop of York it was so he could close the pub on Sundays, and suppress the profane language and singing that came through the bar windows.

    2. A person or thing that is profane.

      • The nuns were employed in religious duties established in honour of St Clare, and to which no profane was ever admitted.

    3. A person not a Mason.

    4. To violate (something sacred)

      To violate (something sacred); to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate

      • One should not profane the name of God.
      • to profane the Scriptures
      • VVhen the vulgar ſort / Sit on their Ale-bench, vvith their cups and kannes, / Matters of ſtate be not their common talke, / Nor pure religion by their lips prophande.

    5. To put to a wrong or unworthy use

      To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to debase; to abuse; to defile.

The neighborhood

Derived

nonprofane, profanely, profaneness, profanic, semiprofane, unprofane, profanable

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at profane. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01profane02impure03pure04unsullied05sullied06defiled07defile

A definitional loop anchored at profane. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

7 hops · closes at profane

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA