Catholic en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈkaf(ə)lɪk/ th-fronting
- /ˈkæθ(ə)lɪk/ (Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈkɛθ(ə)lɪk/ (New-Zealand)
- /ˈkaθ(ə)lɪk/ (British, Northern-England, Scotland, Southern, Standard, Wales)
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Old French catholique, from Latin catholicus, from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikós, “universal”), from κατά (katá, “according to”) + ὅλος (hólos, “whole”).
Meanings
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Of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from e.g. the Orthodox church.
Who or what is a Catholic? This Greek word has become one of the chief battlegrounds in western Latin Christianity, for it is used in different ways which outside observers of Christian foibles find thoroughly confusing. The word ‘Catholic’ is the linguistic equivalent of a Russian doll. It may describe the whole Christian Church founded two thousand years ago in Palestine, or the western half of the Church which split from mainstream eastern Christianity a thousand years ago, or that part of the western half which remained loyal to the Bishop of Rome (the Pope) after the sixteenth century, or a Protestant European Christian who thought that the Bishop of Rome was Antichrist, or a modern ‘Anglo-Catholic’ faction within the Anglican Communion. How can the word describe all of these things and still have any meaning? I have written this book about the sixteenth-century Reformation in part to answer that question. The Reformation introduced many more complications to the word; in fact there were very many different Reformations, nearly all of which would have said that they were simply aimed at recreating authentic Catholic Christianity. For simplicity’s sake I will take for granted that this book examines multiple Reformations, some of which were directed by the Pope. From now on I will continue to use the shorthand term ‘Reformation’, but readers should therefore note that this is often intended to embrace both Protestantism and the religious movements commonly known as Tridentine Catholicism, the Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation: the revitalized part of the old Church which remained loyal to the Pope. ’Catholic’ is clearly a word which a lot of people want to possess. By contrast, it is remarkable how many religious labels started life as a sneer: the Reformation was full of angry words.
2003, Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History, Penguin, →ISBN, page xviii-xix:Christmas is celebrated at different dates in the Catholic and Orthodox calendars.
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Of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from e.g. the Orthodox church. ▸ Of the Roman Catholic church in particular.
The Church of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic one.
A 2017 yearbook photograph obtained by CNN shows Robert Westman, later known as Robin Westman, then a student at Annunciation Catholic grade school in Minneapolis.
2025 August 27, Casey Tolan, Audrey Ash, Allison Gordon, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Rob Kuznia, John Miller, “Police examine online videos, writings possibly linked to Minneapolis church shooting suspect”, in CNN, archived from the original on 02 Oct 2025:Catholic churches are adorned differently from Protestant ones.
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(alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of catholic.
alt of catholic
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most Catholic | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more Catholic | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Coordinates
Orthodox · Orthodox · Protestant
Deriveds
ization · are bears Catholic · Independent Catholic · Independent Catholicism · Catholicism · Catholic Church · is the Pope Catholic · neo-Catholic · non-Catholic · Catholicise · ize · Greek Catholic · Catholicisation · Catholic frog · Catholic Island · Anglo-Catholic · post-Catholic
Descendants
Hypernyms
Translations (119)
ar كَتْلَكِيّ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ur کاتھولک (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · sq katolik (of the Roman Catholic church) · gl católico (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · lv katolisks (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · lt katalikiška (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ar كُوتَالِيّ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · gd Caitligeach (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · km កាតូលិក (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · mi Katorika (of the Roman Catholic church) · cs katolický (of the Roman Catholic church) · pt católico (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · io katolika (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · mi Pikopō (of the Roman Catholic church) · uk католи́цький (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ar كُوتَالِيّ (of the Roman Catholic church) · cs katolický (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup catolic (of the Roman Catholic church) · nl rooms-katholiek (of the Roman Catholic church) · el καθολικός (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · mk католички (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ar جَاثَلِيقِيّ (of the Roman Catholic church) · sh католичка (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup latinescu (of the Roman Catholic church) · hrx katolisch (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ast católicu (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ar جَاثَلِيقِيّ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ja カトリック (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · cy Catholig (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · es católico (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · id Katolik Roma (of the Roman Catholic church) · nl katholiek (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ms Katolik (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · sog ܩܬܘܠܝܩܐ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ca catòlic (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ga Caitliceach (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · nds-de kathoolsch (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · sw katoliki (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · it cattolico (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · fi katolinen (of the Roman Catholic church) · sw katoliki (of the Roman Catholic church) · my ကက်သလစ် (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · cy Rhufeinig (of the Roman Catholic church) · el ρωμαιοκαθολική (of the Roman Catholic church) · ar كَاتُولِيكِيّ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup catolichescu (of the Roman Catholic church) · es católico romano (of the Roman Catholic church) · cmn 天主教 (of the Roman Catholic church) · ga Caitliceach (of the Roman Catholic church) · ro catolic (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · el ρωμαιοκαθολικός (of the Roman Catholic church) · egl catòlgo (of the Roman Catholic church) · bg католически (of the Roman Catholic church) · fr catholique (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · he קתולי (of the Roman Catholic church) · fa کاتولیک (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · sh kȁtoličkī (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ar كَتْلَكِيّ (of the Roman Catholic church) · hi कैथोलिक (of the Roman Catholic church) · sv katolsk (of the Roman Catholic church) · ur کیتھولک (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · fi roomalaiskatolinen (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup latineascã (of the Roman Catholic church) · la catholicus (of the Roman Catholic church) · ja カソリック (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · de katholisch (of the Roman Catholic church) · hu katolikus (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup catolicã (of the Roman Catholic church) · sk katolícky (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · lt katalikiškas (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ca catòlic (of the Roman Catholic church) · crh katolik (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ug كاتولىك (of the Roman Catholic church) · pl rzymskokatolicki (of the Roman Catholic church) · sh ка̏толичкӣ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · gd Catlaigeach (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · hi कैथोलिक (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup catolicheascã (of the Roman Catholic church) · pl katolicki (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ro catolic (of the Roman Catholic church) · pt católico (of the Roman Catholic church) · el καθολική (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · is kaþólskur (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · mk римокатолички (of the Roman Catholic church) · de katholisch (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ur کیتھولک (of the Roman Catholic church) · hrx katolisch (of the Roman Catholic church) · sh katolička (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · rup lãtineascã (of the Roman Catholic church) · ja 公教の (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · he קתולי (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · da katolsk (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · fi katolinen (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · am የካቶሊክ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · cmn 天主 (of the Roman Catholic church) · ar كَاثُولِيكِيّ (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · lg omukatoliki (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · fi roomalaiskatolinen (of the Roman Catholic church) · egl catòlgo (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · id Katolik (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · cy Catholig (of the Roman Catholic church) · ar كَاتُولِيكِيّ (of the Roman Catholic church) · ar كَاثُولِيكِيّ (of the Roman Catholic church) · km កាតូលិក (of the Roman Catholic church) · rup lãtinescu (of the Roman Catholic church) · ur کاتھولک (of the Roman Catholic church) · ru католи́ческий (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · my ကက်သလစ် (of the Roman Catholic church) · gur katolika (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · fr catholique (of the Roman Catholic church) · vi Công giáo (of the Roman Catholic church) · fo katólskur (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · gv Catoleagh (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church) · ro catolică (of the Roman Catholic church) · eo katolika (of the Roman Catholic church) · it cattolico (of the Roman Catholic church) · sq katolike (of the Roman Catholic church) · nds-de kathoolsch (of the Roman Catholic church) · eo katolika (of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from the Orthodox church)