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catholicity

catholicity

1 9.9
Being broad and open to many different ideas, subjects, or people
  • noun
  • /ˌkæθəˈlɪsɪti/
  • Formal
translation icon : universalidad
  • Globalist rhetoric about the irrelevance of borders is attractive both for its simplicity and for the catholicity of its vision.
  • Christian catholicity

Examples

  • Catholicity will have to mean a universal wholeness and integrity of the great church in a communion among churches that acknowledge and accept real but valid differences among themselves.

    Academic text (2009)
  • His catholicity of perspective enables him to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.

  • A partial list will suggest the catholicity of which my mother was bereft.

    Academic text (2001)
  • We know that we are a challenged and compromised church when it comes to our catholicity.

    Blog text (4)
  • Among American College presidents, Botstein has no equal in the catholicity of his qualities and skills.

  • Miller shows how the theological depth of catholicity can counter this tendency and help us understand what catholicity means in a globalized world.

    Academic text (2008)
  • In that creed, Christians confess that "we believe in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church," and catholicity means universal (small "c").

    Blog text (21)
  • The catholicity of taste and interest exhibited by Bretagne—and surely many others like him—was in part a function of the culture of "curiosity," the desire to collect and study every known variety of a species.

    Academic text (1993)
  • In fact, this liturgically exercised expression of unity may be the most integrative dimension of the multifaceted appreciation of the catholicity of the Christian faith that the course aims to foster.

    Academic text (2014)
  • The catholicity of her interests allowed her to appreciate cultures from all over the world.

Synonyms

universality
vscatholicity
9 6.8

Being true or the same for everyone

is identical but stresses comprehensive scope and presence everywhere

Antonyms

8 6.7

The state of being limited to a small group and not shared with others

Being clear and exact about one thing

How Universal

universality
9 6.8
catholicity
  • Formal
1 9.9
breadth
24 6.3
narrowness
1 4.3
specificity
12 7.0

Surface Forms

catholicity singular
catholicities plural

Morphology

catholicity = catholic (semi-transparent) = catholic + ity

Morphologically regular ('catholic' + '-ity'), but learners who know only the religious sense of 'Catholic' may not infer the general meaning 'universality'.

Etymology

Catholicity comes from the Greek katholikos, built from kata 'according to' and holos 'whole', and is like the English idea of whole or 'all'; that's why catholicity can mean being wide, universal, or covering many things.