CATHOLIC • DICTIONARY ONE.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

... lives. Under charge of the sisters of the asylum whence they came, they had had the best of training, which, although lacking the individual love of the mother for her own children, was one to influence and increase their religious instincts, and to make them good, pious Catholic men and women. The children, almost without exception, were docile and obedient, venerating the sisters in charge, and quick to respond to their slightest word. Among the girls was one to be especially remarked, from ...

— Old Mission Stories of California • Charles Franklin Carter

... as may enable Irishmen to think more clearly, reason more correctly, and act more earnestly upon the general duties, which, from their position in life, they are called upon to perform. With regard to those who feel apprehensive that anything calculated to injure the doctrinal convictions of the Catholic people may be suffered to creep into these Tales, the author has only to assure them—that such an object comes within the scope neither of his plan or inclinations. It is not his intention to make these productions ...

— Phelim O'toole's Courtship and Other Stories • William Carleton

... "Catholic!" exclaimed the judge. The words he had heard seemed to deprive him of all strength. His arms fell slowly and gradually by his side, and Bob was again hanging ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 54, No. 338, December 1843 • Various

... many people there when I entered, not only of all kinds, but in all attitudes, kneeling, sitting, or standing about. And there was that general sense that strikes every man from a Protestant country, whether he dislikes the Catholic atmosphere or likes it; I mean, the general sense that the thing was "going on all the time"; that it was not an occasion, but a perpetual process, as if it were ...

— A Miscellany of Men • G. K. Chesterton

... The shelves are catholic: Samuel Pepys, immortally shameless; Adam Smith, shaken; Beaumont and Fletcher, in folio as they should always be found; Boswell's Johnson, of course, but Blackstone's "Commentaries" also; Plutarch's "Lives" and Increase Mather's witches; all of Fielding ...

— Old Valentines - A Love Story • Munson Aldrich Havens

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