Not universal or not relating to the Catholic Church; contrary to or not in agreement with Catholic doctrine.
From Greek 'a-' (not) + 'katholikos' (universal). 'Katholikos' itself comes from 'kata' (according to) + 'holos' (whole). The term acquired religious significance when applied to the early Christian church.
The word 'Catholic' originally just meant 'universal,' but 'acatholic' came to mean 'not following Catholic beliefs.' It's a perfect example of how prefixes can flip a word's meaning entirely—like saying someone is 'atypical' instead of 'typical.'
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