profane · adjective, noun1
- Late Latin · derived fromprophānus
- Classical Latin · derived fromprofānus“not religious, unclean”
- Middle French · derived fromprofane, prophaine, prophane
- Middle English · inherited fromprophane
- English todayprofane
From Middle English prophane, from Middle French profane, prophaine, prophane and its etymon Classical Latin profānus (“not religious, unclean”) (also Late Latin prophānus), from pro- (“instead of”) + fānum (“temple”).
profane · verb2
- Late Latin · derived fromprophāno
- Classical Latin · derived fromprofānō
- Middle French · derived fromprofaner, prophaner
- Middle English · inherited fromprophanen
- English todayprofane
From Middle English prophanen, from Middle French profaner, prophaner and its etymon Classical Latin profānō (also Late Latin prophāno), from profānus + -ō (suffix forming verbs).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.