Catholicism

[ kuh-thol-uh-siz-uhm ]

noun

1. the faith, system, and practice of the Catholic Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.
2. (lowercase) catholicity.

Catholicism

/ kəˈθɒlɪˌsɪzəm /

noun

1. See Roman Catholicism
   short for Roman Catholicism
2. the beliefs, practices, etc, of any Catholic Church

Catholicism

1. The beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church .

Other Words From

• anti-Ca·tholi·cism noun
• pro-Ca·tholi·cism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Catholicism¹

First recorded in 1600–10; Catholic + -ism

Example Sentences

An excellent argument against Roman Catholicism I would say, and Greene might well stare in blank incomprehension at my pages.

From The Daily Beast

Such revelations seem like the dream come true of know-nothing anti-Catholicism.

From The Daily Beast

As the saying goes, anti-Catholicism is the anti-Semitism of the intellectual class.

From The Daily Beast

That's another story, and Doubt limns the particular joylessness of Irish Catholicism.

From The Daily Beast

Roman Catholicism in England has shown a tendency to advance, especially among the upper and upper-middle classes.

From Project Gutenberg

The oaths were based on a real fear which identified Roman Catholicism with treason.

From Project Gutenberg

Wolken of Ratisbon, a convert to Roman Catholicism in the second half of the fifteenth century.

From Project Gutenberg

The history of German Catholicism proves once more that the Church is never more admirable than when she is persecuted.

From Project Gutenberg

Treitschke has fought Roman Catholicism and its champions, the Jesuits, with relentless hate.

From Project Gutenberg