Online Encyclopedia

PROFANITY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 423 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PROFANITY  , irreverent or blasphemous

language, swearing, by the use of words casting derision on sacred or divine things, especially the taking of the name of
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God in vain (see BLASPHEMY; and SWEARING) . The word " profane," derived from
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Lat. profanum, outside the temple (fanum), hence opposed to sacrum or religiosum, in the sense of not sacred,
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common, is used in
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English not only as meaning irreverent, or blasphemous, but also in the senses of the
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original Latin, not initiated into sacred mysteries, hence,
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lay, secular, or as referring to subjects not connected with sacred or biblical matters, e.g. profane literature,
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history, &c .

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