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catholic means including a wide variety of things; all-embracing.

and

Catholic means of the Roman Catholic faith.

But whenever I hear the someone say, "I'm catholic", it's hard for me to distinguish which usage are they referring to (even with the context). In writing, its easy to differentiate them by the lowercase/uppercase beginning.

My question, though, is what is the origin of the meaning of these two words? I get confused more because I associate the Catholicism with conservatism which is kinda the opposite of being catholic.

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    Related: Catholic with a small c
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Oct 14, 2018 at 12:14
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    It is not clear what exactly is supposed to be the problem here. It is not at all uncommon, or particularly problematic, for a term to function both as a generic term (with lowercase spelling) and as a proper name (capitalized). Think of democrat/Democrat, republican/Republican, states/States. When such words are spoken, the context will almost always make it clear which meaning was intended; in the very rare cases in which there is a genuine ambiguity, one may need to ask the speaker for a clarification.
    – jsw29
    Commented Oct 14, 2018 at 17:56
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    @Mari-LouA thanks. Very informative and relevant question as well..
    – yathish
    Commented Oct 17, 2018 at 2:48
  • Because religion.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Jun 18, 2022 at 13:26

2 Answers 2

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I think the main religious usage is by far the more common, and the more general one can be easily understood in context. Note that in the religious sense the term is often capitalized:

Definition of catholic:

1)

a often capitalized : of, relating to, or forming the church universal.

b often capitalized : of, relating to, or forming the ancient undivided Christian church or a church claiming historical continuity from it.

c capitalized : ROMAN CATHOLIC Her son goes to a Catholic school.

COMPREHENSIVE, UNIVERSAL especially : broad in sympathies, tastes, or interests.

a catholic taste in music

(M-W)

Catholic:

mid-14c., "of the doctrines of the ancient Church" (before the East/West schism), literally "universally accepted," from French catholique, from Church Latin catholicus "universal, general," from Greek katholikos, from phrase kath' holou "on the whole, in general,"

(Etymonline)

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    Thus the reason that "catholic" has two meanings (to the extent that it does) is the it was first applied to the "Christian" church, which is (or at least was, at one time) viewed (by most Christians) as a single "body" of all believers (and hence "universal"). It wasn't until the Roman Catholic Church began to splinter that "Catholic" became, in itself, a designation of a specific religion (and one that was seen as striving to maintain "conservative" values).
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Oct 14, 2018 at 12:08
  • @HotLicks by splintering of Roman Catholic Church, do you mean the Protestant-Catholic divide or something even earlier than that?
    – yathish
    Commented Oct 17, 2018 at 2:43
  • @yathish - Mainly the Protestant Reformation, dated from 1517, though there were other rumblings at least 100 years earlier.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Oct 17, 2018 at 11:50
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    Pace Merriam-Webster, I don't think the capital-C version always has to mean RC. I recently visited a church in Kerala that professes to be Syrian Catholic, rather than Roman Catholic (but nonetheless was raised to Basilican rank by Pope Francis).
    – Brian Donovan
    Commented Aug 6, 2019 at 13:17
  • I suspect that the small-c sense is almost always found in a few set phrases like "catholic tastes", while the word on its own normally refers to the Church of Rome, as you say (even in speech where you can't tell if it's capitalised).
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 11:02
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The only part in the Creed where a Greek word replaced a Latin one was in substituting "catholicos" for "Universalis" because the uni prefix sounded too much like MONO as in monolithic and the early Church was not monolithic. The later saying is in the same vein: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.”

Modern Catholicism has many rites and this is not monolithic.

So the early Church was Catholic and it was in the creed " I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints..."

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    Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Jun 16, 2022 at 17:55
  • Since the Apostles' Creed most likely originated in 5th-century Gaul, the last sentence above is unhelpful. Also, many denominations and non-denominational Church movements, as well as the established Churches, hold the Apostles' Creed as true (if far from comprehensive).
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 16, 2022 at 17:59
  • The question was "Why does the word "Catholic" have two contrasting meanings?" and I'm afraid this doesn't answer it.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 21:29

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