English Online Dictionary. What means catholic? What does catholic mean?
English
Alternative forms
- Catholic
Etymology
From Old French catholique, from Latin catholicus, from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikós, “universal”), from κατά (katá, “according to”) + ὅλος (hólos, “whole”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkæθ(ə)lɪk/, /ˈkɑːθ(ə)lɪk/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkæθ(ə)lɪk/
- Rhymes: -æθəlɪk, -æθlɪk
- Hyphenation: cath‧o‧lic
Adjective
catholic (comparative more catholic, superlative most catholic)
- Universal; all-encompassing.
- Synonyms: universal; see also Thesaurus:generic, Thesaurus:comprehensive
- 1624, John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII., in The Works of John Donne, vol. 3, ed. Henry Alford, London: John W. Parker (1839), pp. 574-5:
- The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all.
- 1995, Brian D. Crandall & Peter W. Stahl, Human Digestive Effects on a Micromammalian Skeleton, Journal of Archaeological Science (1995) 22, 789-797:
- This semifossorial mammal tends to reside in areas with herbaceous cover, frequenting runways in the upper soil horizons where it feeds on a highly catholic diet of animal and plant materials […]
- Alternative letter-case form of Catholic.
- (obsolete) Common or prevalent; especially universally prevalent.
- (usually of people and their feelings, tastes, etc.) Embracing all.
- Synonyms: eclectic; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous
- (of medicines or remedies, obsolete) Universally applicable.
- Of universal human interest or use.
Usage notes
- Sense 4 can also be used figuratively to refer to things.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- “catholic, adj. and n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2020.
Anagrams
- Chilcoat