Meaning & use
ecumenical
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounreligion
Aimed at bringing different Christian churches together in shared worship or cooperation.
Grammar: Often comes before a noun: an ecumenical service, an ecumenical council.
Patterns
- an ecumenical service
- an ecumenical movement
Leaders of several churches joined an ecumenical service on Christmas Eve.
The two denominations began an ecumenical project to feed the homeless.
She works for an ecumenical group that promotes unity among Christians.
adjectivecomparableformal
Open to people or ideas from many groups or backgrounds; broad in outlook.
Grammar: A looser, extended use outside church settings: an ecumenical approach.
Patterns
- an ecumenical approach
The magazine takes an ecumenical approach to music and covers every style.
Her ecumenical taste ranges from opera to punk.
The committee had an ecumenical spirit and welcomed all viewpoints.
Common combinations
- ecumenical service
- The town held an ecumenical service for peace.
- ecumenical movement
- The ecumenical movement began in the twentieth century.
- ecumenical council
- An ecumenical council met to discuss church teaching.
- ecumenical dialogue
- The bishops opened an ecumenical dialogue.
- ecumenical approach
- She took an ecumenical approach to the discussion.
Synonyms and how they differ
- interdenominational
- Interdenominational is the literal term for something involving several Christian groups, while ecumenical also suggests an aim of unity.
- universal
- Universal means applying to everyone, and does not carry the church-unity meaning of ecumenical.
- inclusive
- Inclusive describes welcoming all kinds of people in any setting, whereas ecumenical is tied to religion or a broad, cooperative outlook.
- interfaith
- Interfaith refers to different religions, while ecumenical usually refers to different Christian churches.
Opposites
Word family
- ecumenism noun
- the movement toward unity among Christian churches
- ecumenically adverb
- in a way that unites different Christian churches
- ecumenist noun
- a supporter of Christian unity
- ecumenicity noun
- the state or quality of being ecumenical
Commonly confused: ecumenical or economical? ecumenical or interfaith?
ecumenical vs economical
Economical means thrifty or not wasteful, and is unrelated to ecumenical, which concerns unity among churches.
ecumenical vs interfaith
Interfaith covers different religions, while ecumenical is mainly about different Christian churches.
Practice
Churches from several Christian traditions held a joint prayer meeting. This event could be called ______.
Choose one answer.
An ecumenical meeting brings Christian churches together. Economical, ecological and episcopal have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ecumenical”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.