secular arm
/ˌsɛkjələɹ ˈɑɹm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.88 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The lay or temporal authority of a secular court to pronounce punishment (particularly capital punishment) of an offender tried by an ecclesiastical court.
Example Sentences
- "The secular arm as a means by which lay power intervenes in ecclesiastical cases had two types: sought and unsought by the Church."
- "Then there's no more to be done, but to deliuer them vp to the ſecular arme of the olde vvife, and do not demaund the reaſon, for that vvere neuer to make an end."
- "The firſt Inſtance of the Imploying the Secular Arm againſt Hereticks, that vvas ſet on by any of the Orthodox, vvas under the Reign of that bloody Tyrant [Magnus] Maximus, and it vvas managed by tvvo ſuch ſcandalous Biſhops, that their ill Lives is no ſmall Prejudice againſt every thing that vvas carried on by ſuch Inſtruments."
- "The Secular Arm is the Lay or Temporal Authority of a ſecular Judge; to vvhich Recourſe is had for the Execution of the Sentences paſs'd by Eccleſiaſtical Judges. […] The Church ſheds no Blood: Even the Inquiſition, after they have found the Perſon guilty, ſurrenders him to the ſecular Arm."
- "And vvhether the former [the corrupted clergy] did not abuſe the Povver of the Magiſtracy, in bringing over the Secular Arms for the Support of their VVickedneſs, excluding the vvhole Community from inſpecting and deciding the Matter?"
- "[W]e not only exhort you to expiate by a penitence proportionate to the enormity of such a crime, but also order you to quit the territories of the church vvithin three days, under pain of being given up to the secular arms, and the rigour of the flames."
Etymology
From Late Middle English seculer arm, seculer arme (“civil authority or power”), a calque of Medieval Latin bracchium saeculāre (“(figurative) civil or lay power”), from Latin bracchium (“arm”) + saeculāre (neuter singular form of saeculāris (“profane, temporal, worldly”)).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌsɛkjələɹ ˈɑɹm/
- British English: /ˌsɛkjʊlə ˈɑːm/