# profane
## 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: /pɹəˈfeɪn/
* Rhymes: -eɪn
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

### Adjective

profane (comparative profaner or more profane, superlative profanest or most profane)
* 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.
* 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.
* Treating sacred things with contempt, disrespect, irreverence, or scorn; blasphemous, impious.
* 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

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

### Noun

profane (plural profanes)
* 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.
* (Freemasonry) A person not a Mason.

### Verb

profane (third-person singular simple present profanes, present participle profaning, simple past and past participle profaned)
* (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. […]‎, 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.
* (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
### Related terms

* fan
* fanatic
* fane
* profanation
* profanatory
* profanity

## French
### Etymology

Borrowed from Latin profānus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pʁɔ.fan/

### Adjective

profane (plural profanes)
* secular; lay
    Synonyms: laïque, séculier
    Antonym: sacré
* 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
* inflection of profanar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

## Italian
### Adjective

profane f pl
* feminine plural of profano

### Noun

profane f
* plural of profana

## Latin
### Adjective

profāne
* 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
* inflection of profanar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /pɾoˈfane/ [pɾoˈfa.ne]
* Rhymes: -ane
* Syllabification: pro‧fa‧ne

### Verb

profane
* inflection of profanar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative

## Swedish
### Adjective

profane
* definite natural masculine singular of profan