profane
French, adjective
profane is spelled P-R-O-F-A-N-E (7 letters) and appears 1.8 times per million words in written French, the 22,196th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Profane is a French adjective meaning “secular; lay” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). With an accent, profané is a different word: “past participle of profaner”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui n’appartient pas à la religion, par opposition à ce qui la concerne”.
What does profane mean in English?
adjective
- 1
secular; lay
- 2
profane
verb
- 1
past participle of profaner
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui n’appartient pas à la religion, par opposition à ce qui la concerne. 2. Qui va contre le respect qu’on doit aux choses sacrées.
noun: 1. Personne qui manque de respect pour les choses de la religion. 2. Celui ou celle qui n’était pas initié à des mystères. 3. Personne qui n’est pas initiée à une science, aux lettres, aux arts.
noun: 1. Chose(s) qui n’appartient pas à la religion, par opposition à ce qui la concerne.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of profane
- profanes plural
- profanée feminine
- profanés masculine plural
- profanées feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to profane
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is profane in French?
profane appears 1.8 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).