Definitions

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

  • noun The faith, doctrine, system, and practice of a Catholic church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as catholicity, 1 and 2.
  • noun Adherence to the Roman Catholic Church; the Roman Catholic faith: as, a convert to Catholicism.

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

  • noun The state or quality of being catholic or universal; catholicity.
  • noun Liberality of sentiment; breadth of view.
  • noun The faith of the whole orthodox Christian church, or adherence thereto.
  • noun The doctrines or faith of the Roman Catholic church, or adherence thereto.

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

  • noun The faiths, practices and doctrines of a Catholic Church, but especially of the Roman Catholic Church
  • noun The state or quality of being catholic or universal; catholicity. —Jer. Taylor.
  • noun Liberality of sentiment; breadth of view.

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

  • noun the beliefs and practices of a Catholic Church

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Compare French catholicisme.

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