adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A member of the Apostolici. historical

Adjective

1. 1
   Pertaining to apostles or their practice or teaching; pertaining to the apostles (of early Christianity) or their teachings.

   "an apostolic mission"

2. 2
   Alternative letter-case form of apostolic alt-of
3. 3
   According to the doctrines of the apostles; delivered or taught by the apostles.

   "apostolic faith or practice"

4. 4
   Of or pertaining to the pope or the papacy; papal.
5. 5
   Of or pertaining to the Catholic missions.

Adjective

1. 1
   of or relating to or deriving from the Apostles or their teachings wordnet
2. 2
   proceeding from or ordered by or subject to a pope or the papacy regarded as the successor of the Apostles wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

papalabstemiousapocalypticapostolicalasceticbiblical

Example

More examples

"Do you believe in the one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church?"

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin apostolicus (“apostolic”), from Ancient Greek ἀποστολικός (apostolikós, “apostolic”).

Related phrases

apostolic ageapostolic churchapostolic constitutionapostolic exhortationapostolic fatherapostolic letterapostolic povertyapostolic prefectapostolic seeapostolic successionapostolic visitorvicar apostolic

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.