Etymology

catholicon

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Today it means: A supposed universal remedy. Full definition →

Middle English catholicon ← Ancient Greek καθολικόν
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκαθολικόν“that which is universal”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromcatholicon
  3. English todaycatholicon

From Late Middle English catholicon, via Medieval Latin from Ancient Greek καθολικόν (katholikón, “that which is universal”), the neuter substantive form of καθολικός (katholikós).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.