Catholic Church

English

Noun

Catholic Church (plural Catholic Churches)

1. The Catholic Church, which consists of 24 particular churches in full communion with the Pope as the Bishop of Rome.

   Synonym: Roman Catholic Church

   Meronym: Latin Church

   The Catholic Church is the largest Christian church, comprising almost half of all Christians in the world.

   • 2012, Nat Carnes, Al-Maghred, the Barbary Lion: A Look at Islam, Page 86

     The “Catholic Church” or “Roman Catholic Church” is the world's second largest single religious body after Sunni Islam

2. Literally "universal church", the whole body of Christendom, especially before the division into Western and Eastern churches.
3. Any of the independent Catholic Churches, such as the Old Catholic Church, the Polish National Catholic Church, or the Orthodox Catholic Church.
4. Any Christian denomination that identifies explicitly as "Catholic" based on its affirmation of the Nicene Creed, such as any of the Anglican Churches.

Translations

24 particular churches in full communion with the Pope as the Bishop of Rome

• Afrikaans: Katolieke Kerk
• Albanian: Kisha Katolike f
• Amharic: ካቶሊክ ቤተ ክርስቲያን (katolik betä kərsətiyan)
• Arabic: الكَنِيسَة الكَاثُولِيكِيَّة f (al-kanīsa l-kāṯūlīkiyya)
• Armenian: Կաթոլիկ եկեղեցի (Katʻolik ekeġecʻi)
• Azerbaijani: Katolik kilsəsi
• Basque: Eliza Katolikoa
• Belarusian: Каталіцкая Царква f (Katalickaja Carkva)
• Bengali: ক্যাথলিক চার্চ (kêtholik carco)
• Breton: Iliz katolik f
• Bulgarian: Католическа църква f (Katoličeska cǎrkva)
• Catalan: Església Catòlica f
• Cebuano: Simbahang Katoliko
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 天主教會 / 天主教会 (tin¹ zyu² gaau³ wui^6-2)

  Hokkien: 天主教會 / 天主教会 (Thian-chú-kàu-hōe)

  Mandarin: 天主教會 / 天主教会 (zh) (Tiānzhǔ Jiàohuì)

• Czech: katolická církev f
• Danish: katolske kirke c
• Dutch: Katholieke Kerk f
• Esperanto: Katolika Eklesio
• Estonian: Katoliku kirik
• Faroese: katólska kirkjan
• Finnish: katolinen kirkko
• French: Église catholique (fr) f
• Galician: Igrexa católica (gl) f
• Georgian: კათოლიკური ეკლესია (ḳatoliḳuri eḳlesia)
• German: Katholische Kirche f
• Greek: Καθολική Εκκλησία f (Katholikí Ekklisía)
• Hebrew: הכנסייה הקתולית f (ha-knesiá ha-qatólit)
• Hindi: कैथोलिक गिरजाघर m (kaitholik girjāghar), कैथोलिक गिरजा m (kaitholik girjā)
• Hungarian: katolikus egyház
• Icelandic: Kaþólska kirkjan f
• Ido: Katolik eklesio
• Indonesian: Gereja Katolik
• Irish: Eaglais Chaitliceach f
• Italian: Chiesa cattolica f
• Japanese: カトリック教会 (ja) (Katorikku Kyōkai)
• Kashubian: Katolëcczi Kòscół m
• Kazakh: Католик шіркеуі (Katolik şırkeuı)
• Korean: 가톨릭교회 (gatollikgyohoe), 천주교 (ko) (cheonjugyo)
• Latin: Ecclesia Catholica f
• Latvian: Katoļu baznīca f
• Lithuanian: Katalikų Bažnyčia f
• Low German:

  German Low German: Kathoolsche Kark f

• Luxembourgish: Kathoulesch Kierch
• Macedonian: католичка црква f (katolička crkva)
• Malagasy: Fiangonana katolika, Eglizy Katolika
• Malay: Gereja Katolik
• Malayalam: കത്തോലിക്കാ സഭ (kattōlikkā sabha)
• Maltese: Knisja Kattolika f
• Marathi: कॅथलिक चर्च m (kĕthlik carca)
• Navajo: Ééʼ neishoodii
• Nepali: क्याथोलिक चर्च (kyātholik carca)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Den katolske kirke f

  Nynorsk: Den katolske kyrkja f

• Occitan: Glèisa Catolica f
• Persian: کلیسای کاتولیک (kelisâi kâtolik)
• Polish: Kościół katolicki (pl) m
• Portuguese: Igreja Católica (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਕੈਥੋਲਿਕ ਚਰਚ m (kaitholik carac)
• Romanian: Biserică Catolică
• Romansch: Baselgia catolica f
• Russian: Католи́ческая це́рковь f (Katolíčeskaja cérkovʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Chaitligeach f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Католичка црква f

  Roman: Katolička Cȓkva f

• Slovak: Katolícka cirkev f
• Slovene: Katoliška cerkev f
• Spanish: Iglesia católica f
• Swahili: Kanisa Katoliki
• Swedish: katolska kyrkan (sv) c
• Tagalog: Simbahang Katolika
• Tamil: கத்தோலிக்க திருச்சபை (kattōlikka tiruccapai)
• Telugu: కాథలిక్ చర్చి (kāthalik carci)
• Thai: พระศาสนจักรคาทอลิก (prá-sàat-sà-ná-jàk-kaa-tɔɔ-lìk)
• Turkish: Katolik Kilisesi
• Ukrainian: Като́ли́цька церква f (Katólýcʹka cerkva)
• Vietnamese: Giáo hội Công giáo
• Volapük: Glüg Katulik
• Welsh: Eglwys Gatholig f

the whole body of Christendom before the division into Western and Eastern churches

• Finnish: katolinen kirkko, yhtenäinen kirkko
• Irish: Eaglais Chaitliceach f
• Romanian: Biserică Catolică

any of the independent Catholic Churches

• Finnish: katolinen kirkko
• Irish: Eaglais Chaitliceach f

any Christian denomination that identifies explicitly as "Catholic"

• Irish: Eaglais Chaitliceach f

Further reading

• “Catholic Church”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Catholic Church”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
• “Catholic Church”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “Catholic Church”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.