SECULARIZE

secularize, secularise

(verb) make secular and draw away from a religious orientation; “Ataturk secularized Turkey”

desacralize, secularize

(verb) transfer from ecclesiastical to civil possession, use, or control

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

secularize (third-person singular simple present secularizes, present participle secularizing, simple past and past participle secularized)

(transitive) To make secular.

Source: Wiktionary

Sec"u*lar*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Secularized; p. pr. & vb. n. Secularizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. séculaiser.]

1. To convert from regular or monastic into secular; as, to secularize a priest or a monk.

2. To convert from spiritual or common use; as, to secularize a church, or church property. At the Reformation the abbey was secularized. W. Coxe.

3. To make worldly or unspiritual. Bp. Horsley.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition