Catholic (term) Catholic (term) The word catholic (with lowercase "c"; derived via Late Latin "catholicus", from the Greek adjective ("katholikos"), meaning "universal") comes from the Greek phrase ("katholou"), meaning "on the whole", "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole". The term Catholic (usually written with uppercase "C" in English) was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century to emphasize its universal scope. In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. The word in English can mean either "of
English words of Greek origin a prefix in Greek. Many Greek affixes such as "anti-" and "-ic" have become productive in English, combining with arbitrary English words: "antichoice", "Fascistic". Some portmanteau words in English have led to suffixes based on Greek words, but which are not suffixes in Greek, "e.g." "-athon" or "-a-thon" ("walkathon", from "walk" and "(mar)athon") and "-nomics" ("Reaganomics", from "Reagan" and "(eco)nomics"). Some Greek words were borrowed through Arabic and then Romance. Many are learned: "alchemy" ("al-" + χημεία or χημία), "elixir" ("al-" + ξήριον), "alembic" ("al-" + ἄμβιξ); but others are popular: "botargo" (ᾠοτάριχον), "tajine" (τάγηνον), and possibly "quintal" (κεντηνάριον <