Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Marked by contempt or irreverence for what is sacred.
- adjective Nonreligious in subject matter, form, or use; secular.
- adjective Not admitted into a body of secret knowledge or ritual; uninitiated.
- adjective Vulgar; coarse.
- transitive verb To treat with irreverence.
- transitive verb To put to an improper, unworthy, or degrading use; abuse.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not sacred, or not devoted to sacred purposes; not possessing any peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; secular: as, a profane place; profane history (that is, history other than Biblical); profane authors.
- Irreverent toward God or holy things; speaking or spoken, acting or acted, in manifest or implied contempt of sacred things; blasphemous: as, profane language; profane swearing.
- Not initiated into certain religious rites; hence, of less dignity or standing; inferior; common.
- Synonyms Temporal, unhallowed, unholy.
- Impious, Atheistic, etc. (see
irreligious ); irreverent, sacrilegious. - To treat as if not sacred or deserving reverence; violate, as anything sacred; treat with irreverence, impiety, or contempt; pollute; desecrate.
- To put to a wrong use; employ basely or unworthily.
- To make known; make common: said of something confined to an initiated few.
- To speak or behave blasphemously or profanely.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To violate, as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute
- transitive verb To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase; to abuse; to defile.
- adjective Not sacred or holy; not possessing peculiar sanctity; unconsecrated; hence, relating to matters other than sacred; secular; -- opposed to
sacred ,religious , orinspired . - adjective Unclean; impure; polluted; unholy.
- adjective Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity; irreverent; impious.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Unclean ; ritually impure;unholy , desecrating a holy place or thing. - adjective Not sacred or holy,
unconsecrated ; relating to non-religious matters,secular . - adjective Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or undue familiarity;
blasphemous ,impious . Hence, specifically; Irreverent in language; taking the name of God in vain; given toswearing ; blasphemous; as, a profane person, word, oath, or tongue. - noun A person or thing that is profane.
- noun freemasonry A person not a
Mason . - verb transitive To
violate , as anything sacred; to treat with abuse, irreverence,obloquy , or contempt; to desecrate; to pollute; as, to profane the name of God; to profane the Scriptures, or the ordinance of God. - verb transitive To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to
debase ; to abuse; todefile .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective not holy because unconsecrated or impure or defiled
- adjective grossly irreverent toward what is held to be sacred
- verb corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
- adjective characterized by profanity or cursing
- verb violate the sacred character of a place or language
- adjective not concerned with or devoted to religion
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The word profane comes from the Latin profanus which literally means from the temple.
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So even that which we call profane, even that which we call diabolical is a different face of the same divine intelligence.
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Which words are exactly considered profane is still unclear, but the bill does have a list of qualifications for profanity including words or actions that are lewd, vulgar or indecent in nature.
Boing Boing 2009
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I write sentences with out a fuck'in profane word in it all the time.
Some things that creep me the fuck out Tyler 2009
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An online video showed actor Christian Bale in profane rant against a crew member who had walked into a shot on a film set.
Sorry for Rough Landing Tamer El-Ghobashy 2010
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The spring season in New York is, happily and atypically, plump with demonstrations of such genre bending, with entrancingly wicked shows that extract the profane from the sacred and the rot from the pillars of society.
February 2006 2006
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And the word profane is usually taken in the Scripture for the same with common; and consequently their contraries, holy and proper, in the kingdom of God must be the same also.
Leviathan 2007
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"That 's what I call a profane remark, Ellery Davenport," she said.
Oldtown Folks 1869
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And the word profane is usually taken in the Scripture for the same with common; and consequently their contraries, holy and proper, in the kingdom of God must be the same also.
Leviathan, or, The matter, forme, & power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill 1651
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Today we received a shipment of a new item with a name profane enough that I can't use it here on Epinions.
bilby commented on the word profane
"Sneerers and prophane wits may perhaps laugh at her first fright: yet my graver reader, when he considers the time of night, the summons from her bed, and the situation in which she found her master, will highly justify and applaud her conduct, unless the prudence which must be supposed to attend maidens at that period of life at which Mrs. Deborah had arrived, should a little lessen his admiration."
- Henry Fielding, 'The History of Tom Jones'.
September 8, 2009
writer723 commented on the word profane
what does sacred have to do with a great utterance of profanity; i.e. f@#k, $h&t
May 3, 2011
fbharjo commented on the word profane
Etymologies
Middle English prophane, from Old French, from Latin profānus, from prō fānō, in front of the temple : prō-, before, outside; see pro-1 + fānō, ablative of fānum, temple; see dhēs- in Indo-European roots.
Isn't it amazing the heat generated when prop(what the h...)ane is released and alighted? It is an outside, marginal realm.
March 1, 2012