Säkularer

Säkularer is a term that appears in Swedish as the comparative form of the adjective meaning secular. In contemporary usage, the standard way to express the comparative is to use the construction mer sekulär or the variant sekulärare. The form säkularer is far less common and is generally regarded as archaic or regional rather than standard modern Swedish.

Etymology and form: The base concept comes from Latin saeculum, through the borrowing path that produced Swedish sekulär (secular). The spelling säkularer reflects an older orthographic variant, and its presence highlights historical or stylistic differences in how comparative forms were formed or written in Swedish.

Usage and style: In current Swedish, preference is given to mer sekulär or sekulärare to indicate a higher degree of secularism. Säkularer may be found in older texts, certain dialectal writings, or in scholarly work that aims to reflect historical language forms. When writing for a contemporary audience, using mer sekulär is usually clearer and more natural.

Semantics and domains: The concept describes something with a greater degree of secular character, such as attitudes, institutions, laws, or public life that are less influenced by religious authority. The related noun form sekularisering (secularization) and the adjective sekulär are more commonly used in discussions of religion, church-state relations, and secular policy.

See also: sekulär, sekularisering, religion, church-state relations.