profane

See also: profané

English

Alternative forms

• prophane (obsolete, hypercorrect)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. Unclean; ritually impure; unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing.
   • 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):

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

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

   profane authors

   • 1781, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume II, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 102:

     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; blasphemous, impious.
4. Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain

   a profane person, word, oath, or tongue

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 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

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 102:

     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.

Synonyms

• (obscene): vulgar, inappropriate, obscene, debased, uncouth, offensive, ignoble, mean, lewd, wicked
• (not sacred): secular, unsanctified, unhallowed, unholy, irreligious, temporal, worldly, ungodly, impious, godless
• (taking God's name in vain): irreverent

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “not sacred or holy”): faithful, holy, orthodox, religious, sacred, sacrosanct, spiritual

Translations

unclean; impure; polluted; unholy

• Bulgarian: нечести́в (bg) (nečestív)
• Dutch: profaan (nl)
• Finnish: epäpyhä, maallinen (fi), profaani
• French: impur (fr) m, profane (fr) m or f, sale (fr) m or f
• Greek: ανόσιος (el) m (anósios), ανίερος (el) m (aníeros)
• Latin: nefastus
• Russian: нечести́вый (ru) (nečestívyj)
• Spanish: sacrílego (es)
• Ukrainian: нечести́вий (nečestývyj)

Not sacred or holy

• Belarusian: све́цкі (svjécki), непрысве́чаны (njeprysvjéčany)
• Bulgarian: све́тски (bg) (svétski), ми́рски (bg) (mírski), непосвете́н (bg) (neposvetén)
• Catalan: profà
• Finnish: maallinen (fi), profaani, epäpyhä
• French: profane (fr) m or f
• German: weltlich (de)
• Greek: ανόσιος (el) m (anósios), ανίερος (el) m (aníeros)

  Ancient: βέβηλος (bébēlos)

• Italian: sconsacrato (it) m, profano (it) m, secolare (it), blasfemo (it)
• Japanese: 世俗の (ja) (sezoku no)
• Latin: profānus
• Macedonian: све́товен m (svétoven), про́фан m (prófan)
• Occitan: profan (oc)
• Portuguese: profano (pt)
• Russian: непосвящённый (ru) (neposvjaščónnyj), све́тский (ru) (svétskij), мирско́й (ru) (mirskój)
• Spanish: profano (es)
• Ukrainian: непосвя́чений (neposvjáčenyj), мирськи́й (myrsʹkýj), сві́тський (svítsʹkyj)

Treating sacred matters with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity

• Belarusian: блюзне́рскі (bljuznjérski), богазневажа́льны (bohaznjevažálʹny)
• Bulgarian: богоху́лен (bogohúlen)
• Finnish: rienaava (fi), epäkunnioittava (fi), profaani
• French: sacrilège (fr) m or f
• Greek: βέβηλος (el) m (vévilos), ιερόσυλος (el) m (ierósylos)

  Ancient: βέβηλος (bébēlos), ἀσεβής (asebḗs)

• Irish: diamhaslach
• Italian: sacrilego (it) m, profano (it) m, empio (it) m
• Japanese: 汚らわしい (ja) (kegarawashii), 卑賎な (hisen na)
• Polish: bluźnierczy
• Russian: богоху́льный (ru) (bogoxúlʹnyj)
• Spanish: profano (es)
• Ukrainian: богознева́жний (bohoznevážnyj), богоху́льний (uk) (bohoxúlʹnyj), блюзні́рський (uk) (bljuznírsʹkyj)

taking the name of God in vain

• Belarusian: блюзне́рскі (bljuznjérski), богазневажа́льны (bohaznjevažálʹny)
• Bulgarian: богоху́лен (bogohúlen)
• Polish: bluźnierczy
• Russian: богоху́льный (ru) (bogoxúlʹnyj)
• Spanish: blasfemo (es)
• Ukrainian: богознева́жний (bohoznevážnyj), богоху́льний (uk) (bohoxúlʹnyj), блюзні́рський (uk) (bljuznírsʹkyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} profan (de)
• Ido: ^{(please verify)} profana (io)

Noun

profane (plural profanes)

1. A person or thing that is profane.
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 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

   • 1600, [Michael Drayton, Richard Hathwaye, Anthony Munday, Robert Wilson], The First Part of the True and Honorable Historie, of the Life of Sir John Old-castle, the Good Lord Cobham. […]‎^[1], London: […] [V[alentine] S[immes]] for Thomas Pauier, […], →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter XXXIV, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     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.

Synonyms

• (violate something sacred): defile, unhallow; see also Thesaurus:desecrate
• (put to a wrong or unworthy use): abase, adulterate, degrade, demean, misapply, misuse, pervert

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “violate something sacred”): consecrate, sanctify; see also Thesaurus:consecrate

Translations

To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt

• Armenian: պղծել (hy) (pġcel)
• Bulgarian: осквернявам (bg) (oskvernjavam)
• Catalan: profanar (ca)
• Finnish: häpäistä (fi)
• French: profaner (fr)
• Galician: profanar (gl)
• Greek: μιαίνω (el) (miaíno), βεβηλώνω (el) (vevilóno)

  Ancient Greek: βεβηλόω (bebēlóō)

• Italian: profanare (it)
• Japanese: 冒涜する (ja) (bōtoku suru), 汚す (ja) (kegasu), 蔑む (ja) (sagesumu)
• Spanish: profanar (es), profanar (es)

To put to a wrong or unworthy use

• Finnish: häpäistä (fi)

Related terms

• fan
• fanatic
• fane
• profanation
• profanatory
• profanity

 

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin profānus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔ.fan/

Adjective

profane (plural profanes)

1. secular; lay

   Synonyms: laïque, séculier

   Antonym: sacré

2. profane

Related terms

• profanateur
• profanation
• profaner

 

Further reading

• “profane”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Galician

Verb

profane

1. inflection of profanar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Italian

Adjective

profane f pl

1. feminine plural of profano

Noun

profane f

1. plural of profana

Latin

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.

Portuguese

Verb

profane

1. inflection of profanar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɾoˈfane/ [pɾoˈfa.ne]
• Rhymes: -ane
• Syllabification: pro‧fa‧ne

Verb

profane

1. inflection of profanar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Adjective

profane

1. definite natural masculine singular of profan