Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ecumenical” come from?

Ecumenical comes from Ancient Greek οἰκουμενικός, derived from οἶκος meaning "house" or "dwelling," with the adjectival suffix -ικός.

ecumenical (English): Pertaining to the universal Church, representing...

Definitions

  1. Pertaining to the universal Church, representing...

Ancestry of “ecumenical”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishecumenicEcumenical
2Frenchœcuméniqueœcumenic, ecumenic, ecumenical
3Late LatinoecumenicusOf or pertaining to whole inhabited world;...
4Ancient Greekοἰκουμενικόςfrom or open to the whole world
5Ancient Greek-ικόςof or pertaining to, in the manner of; -ic
6Ancient Greek-κόςforms adjectives with the sense of 'of or...
7Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

Words derived from “ecumenical”

  • ecumenically
  • ecumenicalism
  • nonecumenical
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →