A.Word.A.Day --ecumenical

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ecumenical

PRONUNCIATION:

(ek-yoo-MEN-i-kuhl, ee-kyoo-)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Having a mix of diverse elements.
2. Universal; general.
3. Pertaining to the whole Christian church; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin oecumenicus (general, universal), from Greek oikoumenikos, from oikein (to inhabit), from oikos (house). Ultimately from the Indo-European root weik- (clan) that is also the forebear of vicinity, village, villa, and villain (originally, a villain was a farm servant, one who lived in a villa or a country house).

USAGE:

"An ecumenical group of Cincinnati area leaders called for an end Wednesday to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the Gaza Strip."
Rebecca Goodman; Area Groups Call For End to Gaza Conflict; Cincinnati Enquirer; Dec 31, 2008.

See more usage examples of ecumenical in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. -Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)

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