secular

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 11, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>secular</strong> &#149; \SEK-yuh-ler\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Secular</em> means "not spiritual or religious."</p> <p>// In her autobiography, the actor mentions that her education in <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parochial">parochial</a> school was not too different from that of <em>secular</em> institutions.</p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/secular">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"The biggest change from Halloween's earliest roots is that it became more <em>secular</em> than religious." — <em>The South Marion (Florida) Citizen</em>, 29 Oct. 2021</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Secular</em> comes from Latin <em>saeculum</em>, meaning variously "generation," "age," "century," and "world." Today, <em>secular</em> is used to describe things that are related to the physical rather than the spiritual world, and to things that are not overtly or specifically religious or that are controlled by the government rather than the church.</p> <br /><br /> </p> </font>