catholic

See also: Catholic

English

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/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -æθəlɪk, -æθlɪk
• Hyphenation: cath‧o‧lic

Adjective

catholic (comparative more catholic, superlative most catholic)

1. 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.

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.29:

     Essentially, and in idea, the empire, in the minds of the Romans, was world-wide. This conception descended to the Church, which was ‘Catholic’ in spite of Buddhists, Confucians, and (later) Muhammadans.

   • 1961 March, “Motive Power Miscellany”, in Trains Illustrated, page 181:

     Newton Heath depot has lately been catholic in its choice of power for the 6.10 p.m. Manchester-Southport and the 9 p.m. back via Bolton.

   • 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 […]

2. Pertaining to all kinds of people and their range of tastes, proclivities etc.; liberal.

   Synonyms: eclectic; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous

   • 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 584:

     "I've got catholic tastes. Catholic with a small "c", of course."

   • 2003, Simon Winchester, The Meaning of Everything; The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, New York: Oxford University Press. p.72:

     He was omnivorous in his appetite for knowledge, quite catholic in his range of interests […]

3. Alternative letter-case form of Catholic.

Translations

universal

• French: catholique (fr) m or f

pertaining to all kinds of people, etc.

Anagrams

• Chilcoat