Meanings
plural profanations
- countableuncountableThe act of profaning; desecration, blasphemous behaviour, defilement.
those which mocke and condemne it, intend neverthelesse to wrong this noble vertue; but onely to condemne the abuse and profanation of so sacred a title[…].
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 37, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC1 more example
[…] but there is a time and a season for all things, and we look upon such attempts as that before us, with a certain portion of respect for a good intention, but as a lamentable want of judgment and good taste, not to speak of a familiarity with the phraseology of Scripture, little short of profanation.
1826-06, The Gentleman's Magazine, page 528Synonyms: blasphemy, sacrilege, perversion, abasement, adulteration, corruption, debasement, debauchment
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe act of profaning; desecration, blasphemous behaviour, defilement.
More synonyms by meaning
nounblasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinprofānō
- Late Latinprofanatio
- Middle Frenchprophanation
- Englishprofanation
From Middle French prophanation, profanation, and its source, Late Latin profanatio, from the participle stem of Latin profānō. By surface analysis, profane + -ation.
More words from Middle French, Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
profanation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/profanation
“profanation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/profanation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “profanation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/profanation.
Source: profanation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.