catholic

From Old French catholique, from Latin catholicus, from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikós), from κατά (katá, “according to”) + ὅλος (hólos, “whole”)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkaθ(ə)lɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæθ(ə)lɪk/

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

catholic (comparative more catholic, superlative most catholic)

1. Universal; all-encompassing.
   • 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.

   • 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.
   • 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

• (universal): universal; see also Thesaurus:generic or Thesaurus:comprehensive
• (pertaining to all kinds): eclectic; see also Thesaurus:heterogeneous

• Chilcoat