catholic means universal; all-encompassing. It carries an Arena rating of 1499, earned across 2 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, catholic ranks #143 of 25,264 for Qualifying, #2,328 of 14,438 for Most Storied Words, #2,592 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #2,737 of 14,445 for Most Beautiful Words.
catholic is pronounced /ˈkæ.θ(ə.)lɪk/.
Why “catholic” is a great word
Universal in scope or character; all-embracing, or, when capitalized, pertaining to the Roman Catholic Church. From Old French *catholique*, from Latin *catholicus*, from Ancient Greek καθολικός (*katholikós*, "universal"), from κατά (*katá*, "according to") + ὅλος (*hólos*, "whole"). Unlike "ecumenical," which seeks unity among Christian denominations, or "parochial," which retreats into the narrowness of a local parish, the lowercase *catholic* denotes an expansive, all-embracing quality of mind and spirit. It is the library that refuses no book, the curiosity that follows every thread, the quiet rebellion against the impoverishment of a partial world—the assertion that the whole might be worth knowing.
Etymology
From Old French catholique, from Latin catholicus, from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikós, “universal”), from κατά (katá, “according to”) + ὅλος (hólos, “whole”).
adj
- Universal; all-encompassing.“The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all.”
- Common or prevalent; especially universally prevalent.
- All-embracing.“[…]a knowledge which should not only know at what particular spot in these mounds it should excavate, but, having excavated, would understand how to sift and use these materials properly, with a profoundly pious and reverential mind,—a knowledge not narrow, sectarian, one-sided, but catholic, human, large, one to which Homer and Horace and Goethe and Tennyson should no be more foreign than Church ”
- Universally applicable.
- Of universal human interest or use.“And as the whole booke of Psalmes is Oleum efjusum, (as the Spouse speaks of the name of Christ) an Oyntment powred out upon all sorts of sores, A Searcloth that souples all bruises, A Balme that searches all wounds; so are there some certaine Psalmes, that are Imperiall Psalmes, that command over all affections, and spread themselves over all occasions, Catholique, universall Psalmes, that apply ”
- Of the Western Christian church, as differentiated from e.g. the Orthodox church.“Christmas is celebrated at different dates in the Catholic and Orthodox calendars.”
- 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.”
noun
- A member of a Catholic (western Christian) church.
- A member of a Catholic (western Christian) church.; A member of the Roman Catholic Church (which is also elliptically called the Catholic Church).“The wife of the Prime Minister is a Catholic.”
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