catholic

¹ American  

[kath-uh-lik, kath-lik] / ˈkæθ ə lɪk, ˈkæθ lɪk /

adjective

1. broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.

2. universal in extent; involving all; of interest to all.

3. pertaining to the whole Christian body or church.

---

Catholic ² American  

[kath-uh-lik, kath-lik] / ˈkæθ ə lɪk, ˈkæθ lɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to a Catholic church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

2. Theology.

   1. (among Roman Catholics) claiming to possess exclusively the notes or characteristics of the one, only, true, and universal church having unity, visibility, indefectibility, apostolic succession, universality, and sanctity: used in this sense, with these qualifications, only by the Church of Rome, as applicable only to itself and its adherents and to their faith and organization; often qualified, especially by those not acknowledging these claims, by prefixing the word Roman.

   2. (among Anglo-Catholics) noting or pertaining to the conception of the church as the body representing the ancient undivided Christian witness, comprising all the orthodox churches that have kept the apostolic succession of bishops, and including the Anglican Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Church of Sweden, the Old Catholic Church (in the Netherlands and elsewhere), etc.

3. pertaining to the Western Church.

---

noun

1. a member of a Catholic church, especially of the Roman Catholic Church.

Catholic ¹ British  

/ ˈkæθlɪk, ˈkæθəlɪk /

adjective

1. denoting or relating to the entire body of Christians, esp to the Church before separation into the Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western Churches

2. denoting or relating to the Latin or Western Church after this separation

3. denoting or relating to the Roman Catholic Church

4. denoting or relating to any church, belief, etc, that claims continuity with or originates in the ancient undivided Church

---

noun

1. a member of any of the Churches regarded as Catholic, esp the Roman Catholic Church

catholic ² British  

/ ˈkæθəlɪk, kəˈθɒlɪklɪ, ˈkæθlɪk /

adjective

1. universal; relating to all men; all-inclusive

2. comprehensive in interests, tastes, etc; broad-minded; liberal

---

Other Word Forms

• anti-Catholic adjective
• catholically adverb
• catholicalness noun
• catholicly adverb
• catholicness noun
• non-Catholic adjective
• pro-Catholic adjective
• pseudo-Catholic adjective
• pseudocatholically adverb
• supercatholic adjective
• supercatholically adverb
• uncatholic adjective

Etymology

Origin of catholic¹

First recorded in 1300–1350; Middle English, from Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikós “general,” from kathól(ou) “universally” (contraction of phrase katà hólou “according to the whole”; cata-, holo- ) + -ikos -ic

Origin of Catholic²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; special use of catholic

Example Sentences

The festival reflected his tastes, which were, as David Thomson, the San Francisco-based British film critic and historian, said, “both catholic and universal.”

From New York Times

He demanded that Catholics in particular actually act “catholic” in the universal sense, noting that migrants and refugees enrich the faith, the church and one another.

From Washington Times

Some 834 million euros in donations flooded in from billionaire tycoons and catholic households in the aftermath of the fire.

From Reuters

While some catholic leaders have applauded the move, more have – expectedly – decried the decision, with some calling for clarity but others outright saying the informal statement is “inadmissible.”

From Fox News

Landry said she went to Catholic school for 20 years of her life and is as “catholic as all of y’all.”

From Fox News