profane

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /pɹəˈfeɪn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn

Adjective

profane (comparative profaner or more profane, superlative profanest or most profane)

1. Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
   • Sir Walter Raleigh

     Nothing is profane that serveth to holy things.

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

   profane authors

   • Gibbon

     The profane wreath was suspended before the shrine.

3. Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn; blasphemous, impious.
4. Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain

   a profane person, word, oath, or tongue

   • Bible, 1 Timothy 1:9

     […] 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 […]

Noun

profane (plural profanes)

1. A person or thing that is profane.
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, p. 244:

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

2. (freemasonry) A person not a Mason.

Verb

profane (third-person singular simple present profanes, present participle profaning, simple past and past participle profaned)

1. (transitive) 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

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 34

     With one mind, their intent eyes all fastened upon the old man’s knife, as he carved the chief dish before him. I do not suppose that for the world they would have profaned that moment with the slightest observation, even upon so neutral a topic as the weather.

2. (transitive) To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to debase; to abuse; to defile.

Related terms

• profanation
• profanity

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin profānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.fan/

Adjective

profane (plural profanes)

1. secular; lay

   Synonyms: laïque, séculier

   Antonym: sacré

2. profane

Further reading

• “profane” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Adjective

profane f pl

1. feminine plural of profano

Noun

profane f

1. plural of profana

Adjective

profāne

1. vocative masculine singular of profānus

References

• profane in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• profane in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Verb

profane

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of profanar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of profanar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of profanar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of profanar

Verb

profane

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of profanar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of profanar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of profanar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of profanar.