catholic
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈkæ.θ(ə.)lɪk/
ipa: /ˈkɑː.θ(ə.)lɪk/
ipa: /ˈkæ.θ(ə.)lɪk/
rhymes: -æθəlɪk
rhymes: -æθlɪk
Forms: form: more catholic
form: most catholic
form: Catholic
Etymology: From Old French catholique, from Latin catholicus, from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikós, “universal”), from κατά (katá, “according to”) + ὅλος (hólos, “whole”).
Senses: examples: text: The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does, belongs to all.
ref: 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
text: 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.
ref: 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.29:
text: 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.
ref: 1961 March, “Motive Power Miscellany”, in Trains Illustrated, page 181:
text: 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 […]
ref: 1995, Brian D. Crandall & Peter W. Stahl, Human Digestive Effects on a Micromammalian Skeleton, Journal of Archaeological Science (1995) 22, 789-797
synonyms: word: universal
word: catholic
word: ecumenical
word: general
word: generic
word: nonsingular
word: nonspecific
word: universal
word: unparticular
word: unsingular
word: unspecific
word: across-the-board
word: all around
word: all-embracing
word: all-encompassing
word: blanket
word: broad
word: comprehensive
word: exhaustive
word: overall
word: sweeping
word: thorough
glosses: Universal; all-encompassing.
glosses: Alternative letter-case form of Catholic.
glosses: Common or prevalent; especially universally prevalent.
examples: text: "I've got catholic tastes. Catholic with a small "c", of course."
ref: 1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 584:
text: He was omnivorous in his appetite for knowledge, quite catholic in his range of interests […]
ref: 2003, Simon Winchester, The Meaning of Everything; The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary, New York: Oxford University Press, page 72:
synonyms: word: eclectic
word: catholic
word: dishomogeneous
word: diverse
word: diversified
word: eclectic
word: heterogeneous
word: liberal
word: manifold
word: miscellaneous
word: mixed
word: motley
word: multifarious
word: multifold
word: sundry
word: variable
word: varied
word: various
qualifier: tastes
glosses: Embracing all.
raw_tags: of people and their feelings
glosses: Universally applicable.
raw_tags: of medicines or remedies
examples: text: 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 themselves to all necessities.
ref: c. 1625, John Donne, edited by Evelyn M. Simpson and George R. Potter, The Sermons of John Donne, volume 7, Berkeley: University of California Press, published 1962, page 51:
text: And this vast number is but a selection ; the editors chose only out of the mass before them what was most noteworthy and trustworthy, and what was of catholic rather than of national interest.
ref: 1868, James Anthony Froude, Short Studies on Great Subjects, 3rd edition, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., page 363:
glosses: Of universal human interest or use.
Derived terms: catholical
catholically
catholic creditor
catholic epistle
catholicise
catholicism
catholicity
catholicly
catholicness
uncatholic