Catholics

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A community of believers practicing a form of Christianity characterized by its rituals, doctrines, and adherence to papal leadership
2. Followers of a Christian denomination that emphasizes the importance of the sacraments, the authority of the Pope, and the tradition of the Church
3. A group of individuals devoted to a branch of Christianity known for its structured hierarchy, religious ceremonies, and moral teachings

Etymology: "Catholics" is the plural of "Catholic," so its story is really the story of that adjective. The Greek root is katholikos, built from kata, "according to," and holos, "whole," so the original sense was "general" or "universal," describing something that applies to everything or everyone rather than to one part. Early Christian writers used the adjective to describe the wider church spread across many places, and that sense of universality is what the word has carried ever since. The word reached English by way of Old French catholique, which took it from Latin catholicus. Over the centuries, the noun form came to name the people who belong to that universal church, and the plural "catholics" refers to those communities of believers collectively. The meaning narrowed in practice: a word meaning "universal" became the name of one branch of Christianity, centred on the authority of the pope.

Synonyms: Christians, believers

Antonyms: nonbelievers