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单词 profane
释义 pro·fane
I. \prōˈfān, prəˈ-\ verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English prophanen, from Latin profanare, from profanus
transitive verb
1. : to violate or treat with abuse, irreverence, obloquy, or contempt (something sacred) : treat as not sacred : desecrate, pollute
 < the priests in the temple profane the sabbath — Mt 12:5 (Revised Standard Version) >
2. : to debase by a wrong, unworthy, or vulgar use : abuse, defile, vulgarize
 < its borders have not been profaned by the clutter of outdoor advertising signs — Malcolm Bauer >
intransitive verb
: to indulge in profanity
 < we heard a yell and then a loud profaning >
II. \(ˈ)prō|fān, prəˈf-\ adjective
Etymology: Middle English prophane, from Middle French, from Latin profanus, from pro- before + fanum temple — more at pro-, feast
1. : unconcerned with that which is religious or with the purposes of religion : not devoted to the sacred and the holy : secular
 < Jeremiah has been likened to several characters in profane history — A.W.Streane >
 < the profane world of spectators — James Joyce >
2. : not holy because unconsecrated, impure, or defiled : not fit or fitted for religious uses : unsanctified; sometimes : heathen
 < profane rites >
3.
 a. : serving to debase or defile that which is holy or worthy of reverence : contemptuous of beautiful or sacred things : irreverent
 b.
  (1) : characterized by abusive language directed especially against the name of God
  (2) : indulging in cursing or vituperation : marked by insulting or perverted utterance
   < the profane old rascal — Herman Melville >
4.
 a. : not among the initiated especially to religious rites
 b. : not possessing esoteric or expert knowledge
  < if a picture … had been injured by cleaning, or retouched by some profane hand — Nathaniel Hawthorne >
Synonyms:
 profane, secular, lay, and temporal can all signify not dedicated to religious ends or uses. profane is mainly descriptive in opposing sacred and sometimes holy, religious, or spiritual
  < the profane poet is by instinct a naturalist. He loves landscape, he loves love, he loves the humor and pathos of earthly existence. But the religious prophet loves none of these things — George Santayana >
  < profane men living in ships, like the holy men gathered together in monasteries, develop traits of profound resemblance — Joseph Conrad >
  < that little allegory of sacred and profane love — John Galsworthy >
  secular implies a relation to the world as distinguished from the church, religion, or the religious life
  < believing that no creed, religious or secular, can be justified except on the basis of reason and evidence — Times Literary Supplement >
  < the secular critics of religion — Reinhold Niebuhr >
  < anarchy in the religious society is as undesirable as it is in the secular world — Leo Pfeffer >
  and is close to profane
  < secular and religious music >
  but sometimes it opposes regular in the sense of governed by monastic rule
  < a secular priest does not belong to a religious order >
  and usually it opposes religious in the sense of belonging to or serving the ends of religion or a church
  < the parochial and secular schools >
  lay commonly applies to a person who does not belong to the clergy or sometimes to such a person's activities, interests, or duties, usually opposing clerical or ecclesiastic
  < the priests met with lay members of the parish >
  Often the term extends to signify nonprofessional
  < a lay opinion on a medical question >
  or is often close to average, mundane, sometimes untrained
  < facts in a war which either are based on military information or which cannot be explained to the lay mind — F.D.Roosevelt >
  temporal, opposing spiritual in designating what belongs to material or worldly concerns, applies chiefly to sovereigns, rulers, or dignitaries having political authority or civil power
  < to be ruled in temporal things by clerical authority — Agnes Repplier >
  < the superiority of the spiritual and eternal over the carnal and temporal — H.O.Taylor >
  < our temporal and ecclesiastical overlords >
Synonym: see in addition impious.
III. \prōˈfān, prəˈ-\ noun
(-s)
: one that is not initiated — usually used with the
 < appear … ridiculous to the profane — Ramon Guthrie >
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更新时间:2024/9/21 16:30:55