CATHOLIC • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Catholic

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/kˈæθlɪk/ Listen

adjective

Catholic adj.

1.

Universal or general; as, the catholic faith. "Men of other countries (came) to bear their part in so great and catholic a war." Note: This epithet, which is applicable to the whole Christian church, or its faith, is claimed by Roman Catholics to belong especially to their church, and in popular usage is so limited.

2.

Not narrow-minded, partial, or bigoted; liberal; as, catholic tastes.

3.

Of or pertaining to, or affecting the Roman Catholics; as, the Catholic emancipation act.

Catholic epistles, the epistles of the apostles which are addressed to all the faithful, and not to a particular church; being those of James, Peter, Jude, and John.

noun

Catholic n.

1.

A person who accepts the creeds which are received in common by all parts of the orthodox Christian church.

2.

An adherent of the Roman Catholic church; a Roman Catholic.

Old Catholic, the name assumed in 1870 by members of the Roman Catholic church, who denied the ecumenical character of the Vatican Council, and rejected its decrees, esp. that concerning the infallibility of the pope, as contrary to the ancient Catholic faith.

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Etymology of 'Catholic'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Catholic" Quotes from Famous Books

... severance between the Eastern and Western developments of the religion. In Philo's day the breach was already threatened, through the anti-legal tendencies of the extreme allegorists. His own aim was to maintain the catholic tradition of Judaism, while at the same time expounding the Torah according to the conceptions of ancient philosophy. Unfortunately, the balance was not preserved by those who followed him, and the branch of Judaism that had blossomed forth so fruitfully fell off from the parent ...

— Philo-Judaeus of Alexandria • Norman Bentwich

... the mind of the people; it couldn't be stronger if the bloodthirsty old Tribes were truly our ancestors. The English seized upon their spiritual inheritance as soon as a translation of the Bible put it before them. In Catholic days we fought because we enjoyed it, and made no pretences; since the Reformation we have ...

— The Crown of Life • George Gissing

... more and more costly article. The custom of instituting endowments, and generally of undertaking permanent pecuniary obligations, for religious objects prevailed among the Romans in a manner similar to that of its prevalence in Roman Catholic countries at the present day. These endowments—particularly after they came to be regarded by the supreme spiritual and at the same time the supreme juristic authority in the state, the pontifices, as a real burden devolving -de jure- on every heir or other person acquiring the estate—began ...

— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen

... large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and Interchurch Peace ...

— The 1998 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... now? Just what ought to happen. The draft is going forward smoothly and steadily, without resistance. Sons of the best French-Canadian families are volunteering for the war. Recruits from Laval University are coming in, stirred perhaps by the knowledge that forty thousand Catholic priests in France have entered the army which fights ...

— The Valley of Vision • Henry Van Dyke

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