What does catholicize mean?
“Catholicize” is a transitive verb meaning to make something Catholic — most often to convert a person, people, or institution to Roman Catholicism, or to infuse it with Catholic character, practices, or doctrine. It is built on the adjective “Catholic,” which ultimately derives from the Greek katholikos, “universal,” via Latin and Old French. The word appears chiefly in historical and scholarly contexts: historians might write that missionaries sought to catholicize a region, or that a ruler's policies gradually catholicized a formerly Protestant territory. Because its core sense concerns religious conversion, it carries connotations tied to the history of missionary activity and confessional conflict, so writers usually deploy it where that history is explicitly under discussion. A rarer, older sense extends the idea to making anything universal or general in scope, echoing the original Greek meaning. Formal in register and uncommon in everyday speech, “catholicize” remains a precise and useful term for describing deliberate efforts to spread Catholic belief, worship, and institutions.
To convert a person, community, or institution to Roman Catholicism, or to give it a Catholic character or orientation.
"The order was founded expressly to catholicize the university's curriculum and student body."
Usually used transitively; the passive (“was catholicized”) is common in historical writing.
Rarely, to make something universal or all-embracing in scope.
"Some early theologians argued that the church's mission was to catholicize human learning itself."
The suffix “-ize” has been bolted onto “catholic” since at least the 17th century — proof that English can turn even an ancient Greek word for “universal” into an action verb.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of catholicize
The verb “catholicize” is formed from the adjective “catholic” plus the productive English suffix “-ize,” which marks verbs of becoming or rendering. “Catholic” traces back through Late Latin catholicus to the Greek katholikos, from katholou, “in general, universally,” a compound of kata (“according to”) and holos (“whole”). The adjective entered English via Old French in the medieval period as a term for the universal Christian church, later narrowing in many contexts to mean specifically Roman Catholic. Verbs in “-ize” were formed prolifically in early modern English, and “catholicize” arose in this environment, attested by around the 17th century.
Related word forms
How catholicize is actually used
The word is formal and relatively rare, appearing mostly in historical, religious-studies, and academic writing. When used of conversion to Roman Catholicism specifically, it may carry a confessional tone depending on context; neutral historical prose typically uses it without polemic. The British spelling “catholicise” also occurs.
Easily confused with catholicize
“Catholic” is an adjective or noun referring to the faith itself, while “catholicize” is the verb describing the act of making something Catholic.