catolic

Forms

catolic m or n (feminine singular catolică, masculine plural catolici, feminine/neuter plural catolice)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin catholicus (“universal”), a learned borrowing of the 17th century.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} DELR also names Modern Greek καθολικός (katholikós), Italian cattolico and German katholisch as models, and the CADE and DEX name French catholique.^[2][6] The Latin word is from Ancient Greek καθολικός (katholikós, “universal”), from καθόλου (kathólou, “on the whole, in general”), from κατά (katá) and ὅλος (hólos, “whole”).^[2][1]

The word is also found as Aromanian catholic.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1648,^[2] Tiktin to 1656, in a document.^[5] The DA's first quotation is from a Moldavian chronicle, Neculce's according to Tiktin and Axinte Uricariul's according to MDA2: a man was advised by a friend to become a Catholic, „că într-alt chip nu va putea scăpa de moarte” “for otherwise he could not escape death”.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was the Greek one, “universal”: Cantemir writes catholichi “universal”,^[5] and the Bible of 1688 speaks of the holy, catholic and apostolic church with the adjective catolicesc.^[4] This sense is now obsolete.^[8] The sense that took over is the church headed by the Pope in Rome and its faithful; the DA lists papistaș and latin (popular letin) as old synonyms.^[4]

The phrase a fi mai catolic decât papa “to be more Catholic than the Pope”, that is, to be stricter than those whose task it is, is in Maiorescu.^[4][5] Romanian formed catolicesc (1651), catolici “to convert to Catholicism” (1857) and catolicime “the Catholics” (1928), while catolicism (1829) and catolicitate (1862) are French loans.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1648 – the first record.^[2]
• 1651 – catolicesc “universal;^[2] Catholic”.^[2]
• 1656 – catolic in a document.^[5]
• 1688 – the adjective catolicesc in the Bucharest Bible.^[4]
• 1825 – catolicu in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[9]
• 1829 – catolicism.^[2]
• 1857 – catolici “to make Catholic”.^[2]
• 1862 – catolicitate “the Catholic world”.^[2]
• 1928 – catolicime “the Catholics”.^[2]
• 1966 – catoliciza “to make Catholic”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Catholic: of Catholicism, of the church whose head is the Pope in Rome.^[6][8][1]
2. (obsolete) universal, ecumenical.^[8][2]

Noun

1. A Catholic, a follower of Catholicism.^[6][8][1]

Word family

• catolicesc
• catolicește
• catolici
• catolicime
• catolicism
• catolicitate
• catoliciza

Related words

• Aromanian catholic
• papistaș

Usage notes

A fi mai catolic decât papa means “to be more zealous or strict than is called for”.^[6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. catolic
3. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. catolic
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. catolic
5. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. catolic
6. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 153
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 239
8. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 311
9. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 106