Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The condition or quality of being catholic; breadth or inclusiveness.
  • noun General application or acceptance; universality.
  • noun Roman Catholicism.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The quality of being catholic or universal; catholic character or position; universality: as, the catholicity of a doctrine. Also sometimes catholicism.
  • noun The quality of being catholic or liberal-minded; freedom from prejudices or narrow-mindedness: as, the catholicity of one's taste for literature. Also sometimes Catholicism.
  • noun The Roman Catholic Church, or its doctrines and usages.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The state or quality of being catholic; universality.
  • noun Liberality of sentiments; catholicism.
  • noun Adherence or conformity to the system of doctrine held by all parts of the orthodox Christian church; the doctrine so held; orthodoxy.
  • noun Adherence to the doctrines of the church of Rome, or the doctrines themselves.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The quality of being catholic, universal or inclusive
  • noun Catholicism

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the quality of being universal; existing everywhere
  • noun the beliefs and practices of a Catholic Church

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word catholicity.

Examples

  • This age is craving for what it calls catholicity; for more complete interchange and brotherhood of thought between all the nations of the earth.

    Literary and General Lectures and Essays Charles Kingsley 1847

  • One might apply to him the word catholicity if it were not far too big and dignified an epithet.

    Among Famous Books John Kelman 1896

  • But she, in externally Christianizing the world, permits herself to be seduced by the world; thus her universality or catholicity is not that of the

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • It surpasses any limited point of view, it expands to reality as a whole, universitas means universal, all encompassing, turning or opening to all directions, katolitos… In the sense that Sri Aurobindo used the word "catholicity" of thought, meaning seeing all points of view at the same time.

    An Exploration into an Integral Approach to Knowledge 2009

  • It surpasses any limited point of view, it expands to reality as a whole, universitas means universal, all encompassing, turning or opening to all directions, katolitos… In the sense that Sri Aurobindo used the word "catholicity" of thought, meaning seeing all points of view at the same time.

    Archive 2009-04-10 2009

  • I think it would be more correct to argue that Lewis was a fine scholar who avoided the pitfalls of academic narrow-mindedness because of a combination of things: his great love of truth, the "catholicity" of his perspective even though he had a certain dislike for Rome, and his desire to reach a broad, popular audience without compromising essentials.

    Colson: Lewis successful because he wasn't an evangelical 2004

  • I think it would be more correct to argue that Lewis was a fine scholar who avoided the pitfalls of academic narrow-mindedness because of a combination of things: his great love of truth, the "catholicity" of his perspective even though he had a certain dislike for Rome, and his desire to reach a broad, popular audience without compromising essentials.

    Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog: 2004

  • Well, this Bishop Westcott spoke once enthusiastically of "_the noble catholicity which is the glory of the English Church_."

    The Religious Spirit of the Slavs (1916) Sermons On Subjects Suggested By The War, Third Series Nikolai Velimirovi�� 1918

  • "diversity," we view the peaceable people of God under the category of "catholicity" - a more traditional theological term - we, along with Jonah and the Ninevites, have to acknowledge that the diversity, the catholicity of the Kingdom derives not from our determination, our legislation, our schism-atation to include or exclude anyone, but from the wisdom of God alone.

    Akma 2009

  • The church, however, used "catholicity" as a name for universal submission to the bishop of Rome and for hierarchical discipline, and used all means to try to realize that conception.

    Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals William Graham Sumner 1875

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • “Indeed, at that period of life of which Mr. Booth Tarkington has written so searchingly—the age of seventeen—he had been in love with practically every female he met and with dozens whom he had only seen in the distance; but ripening years had mellowed his taste and robbed him of that fine romantic catholicity."

    Excerpt From: Pelham Grenville Wodehouse. “A Damsel in Distress.”

    January 1, 2013