weltlichen

Weltlich is a German adjective meaning worldly, secular, or earthly. It is used to describe aspects of life, culture, institutions, or governance that are non-religious or non-spiritual, and it can also denote the earthly or material dimension in contrast to heavenly or spiritual concepts. In religious contexts, it is often contrasted with geistlich (spiritual, clerical).

In contemporary usage, weltlich commonly appears in phrases such as weltliche Ordnung (secular order), weltliche Macht (secular power), or weltliche Bildung (secular education). The term can describe cultural or social phenomena as distinguished from churchly or religious ones, and it may also refer to practical, material concerns in everyday life.

Grammatically, weltlich is declined like an ordinary German adjective. The form weltlichen appears in several common contexts, for example after definite articles or in mixed declension: dem weltlichen Mann (dative masculine singular), der weltlichen Frau (dative feminine singular), die weltlichen Werte (nominative or accusative plural). The base form weltlich is used in strong or weak declension depending on the surrounding article and case.

Etymology traces weltlich to the noun Welt (world) with the common German adjectival suffix -lich, yielding a sense of belonging to the world or the secular realm. The term has parallels in other Germanic languages and is often employed in discussions of church–state relations, secularization, and lay culture. See also geistlich, secular, secularization.