Christendom
/ˈkrɪs(ə)ndəm
/noun [mass noun] dated
1The worldwide body or society of Christians.He asserts that abortion was universally condemned by Christendom, a crime at common law, and a felony in the vast majority of states in the latter half of the nineteenth century....
- Baptism made one a member of the body of Christendom.
- Pope Urban II called upon the knights of Christendom to push back the conquests of Islam at the Council of Clermont in 1095.
1.1The Christian world: the greatest church in Christendom...
- On the surface Spanish society appears very secular, but in the twentieth century Spain gave birth to one of the most successful reform movements in contemporary Christendom, Opus Dei.
- The new monastic orders amassed considerable power in Christendom, particularly the Cluniacs, the first order to centralize monastic authority.
- Pentecostals and charismatics have larger membership than all the Protestant denominations combined: they represent the second largest body in Christendom.
Origin
Old English crīstendōm, from crīsten (see christen) + -dōm (see -dom).