Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

Catholicism

play
noun Ca·thol·i·cism \kə-ˈthä-lə-ˌsi-zəm\

Definition of Catholicism

  1. 1 :  roman catholicism

  2. 2 :  the faith, practice, or system of Catholic Christianity

See Catholicism defined for English-language learners

Explore M-W

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square
steve-bannon
Trending: Bannon: One of Us is Going to be a 'Hegemon'
image1489982902
Devilish Words

First Known Use of catholicism

1582

CATHOLICISM Defined for English Language Learners

Catholicism

play
noun

Definition of Catholicism for English Language Learners

  • : the Roman Catholic religion

Learn More about catholicism

  1. See words that rhyme with Catholicism Spanish Central: Translation of Catholicism Nglish: Translation of Catholicism for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of Catholicism for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up Catholicism? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

oppugn

play

to fight against or to call in question

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  2. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

  3. white nationalist, white supremacist Trending in 2017

  4. bereft "Lacking something needed, wanted, or expected"

  5. impanel "To choose people to serve on a jury"

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Catholicism

Test Your Vocabulary

Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

  • time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
  • Which came first?
True or False

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Bee Cubed

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

image1489982902
Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435
How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face
Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz
name-more-food
Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz
True or False
True or False?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Take the quiz
Bee Cubed
Bee Cubed

Listen to the words and spell through all three levels.

Play the game