catholic
catholic Lexical Profile
catholic Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to the Roman Catholic Church, its doctrines, or its members (usually capitalized).
"They attended a traditional Catholic wedding ceremony at the historic cathedral."
Including a wide variety of things; broad-minded, all-embracing, or universal in scope and taste.
"The professor had remarkably catholic tastes in literature, reading everything from classical poetry to modern science fiction."
Relating to the historic, universal Christian Church before the Great Schism and the Reformation.
"The ancient creed affirms belief in one holy catholic and apostolic church."
• noun
A member of the Roman Catholic Church, or more broadly of any Christian church claiming historical continuity with the ancient universal Church (usually capitalized).
"Millions of Catholics around the world observe the season of Lent each spring."
Word Nuance & Usage
When spelled with a lowercase 'c', 'catholic' means broad-minded or universal in scope (as in 'catholic tastes in music'); when capitalized, it specifically refers to the Roman Catholic Church or the historic Christian Church as a whole.
• Rhymes for catholic
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed via Old French and Late Latin from Ancient Greek 'katholikos' (universal, general), formed from 'kata' (concerning, with respect to) and 'holos' (whole).