Simplify the following text for a Grade 10 native English-speaking person.
Original: In the 5th century BCE , the word began to indicate more deliberate and active godlessness in the sense of `` severing relations with the gods '' or `` denying the gods '' .
Simplified: Starting in about the 5th century BC , the word came to describe people who were actively `` severing relations with the gods '' or `` denying the gods '' .