.<br/><br/><br/>Word: sec·u·lar <br/>Pronunciation: 'se-ky&amp;-l&amp;r<br/>Function: adjective<br/>Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French seculer, from Late Latin saecularis, from saeculum the present world, from Latin, generation, age, century, world; akin to Welsh hoedl lifetime<br/>1 a : of or relating to the worldly or temporal &lt;secular concerns&gt; b : not overtly or specifically religious &lt;secular music&gt; c : not ecclesiastical or clerical &lt;secular courts&gt; &lt;secular landowners&gt;<br/>2 : not bound by monastic vows or rules; specifically : of, relating to, or forming clergy not belonging to a religious order or congregation &lt;a secular priest&gt;<br/>3 a : occurring once in an age or a century b : existing or continuing through ages or centuries c : of or relating to a long term of indefinite duration &lt;secular inflation&gt;<br/><br/><br/>Word: as·tron·o·mer <br/>Pronunciation: &amp;-'strä-n&amp;-m&amp;r<br/>Function: noun<br/>: a person who is skilled in astronomy or who makes observations of celestial phenomena<br/><br/><br/>Word: as·tron·o·my <br/>Pronunciation: &amp;-'strä-n&amp;-mE<br/>Function: noun<br/>Inflected Form(s): plural -mies<br/>Etymology: Middle English astronomie, from Anglo-French, from Latin astronomia, from Greek, from astr- + -nomia -nomy<br/>: the study of objects and matter outside the earth's atmosphere and of their physical and chemical properties<br/><br/><br/>.