Catholicism

[ kuh-thol-uh-siz-uhm ]

noun
  1. the faith, system, and practice of the Catholic Church, especially the Roman Catholic Church.

  2. (lowercase) catholicity.

Origin of Catholicism

1
First recorded in 1600–10; Catholic + -ism

Other words from Catholicism

  • an·ti-Ca·thol·i·cism, noun
  • pro-Ca·thol·i·cism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Catholicism in a sentence

  • Such revelations seem like the dream come true of know-nothing anti-Catholicism.

    The Vatican's Sex Cover-up | James Carroll | March 11, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • As the saying goes, anti-Catholicism is the anti-Semitism of the intellectual class.

    The Audacity of Poping | Christopher Buckley | March 26, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • Along the lines of anti-Catholicism, the organization is working hard.

    The Modern Ku Klux Klan | Henry Peck Fry
  • He had founded a Masonic lodge, named the "Microbe," and whose principal characteristic was anti-Catholicism.

    Csar or Nothing | Po Baroja Baroja
  • He was the first man in Riverbank to cry aloud for prohibition, but he was also the first to shriek anti-Catholicism.

    Dominie Dean | Ellis Parker Butler

British Dictionary definitions for Catholicism

Catholicism

/ (kəˈθɒlɪˌsɪzəm) /


noun
  1. the beliefs, practices, etc, of any Catholic Church

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Catholicism

Catholicism

The beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.