cattoliche

Cattoliche is the feminine plural form of the Italian adjective cattolico, meaning Catholic. Used as an adjective or a noun, it refers to things related to Catholicism or to women who are Catholics. In everyday Italian, it can describe people, groups, or attributes associated with Catholic faith or practice, for example when referring to female adherents or to Catholic women as a social group.

As a noun phrase, cattoliche typically appears in phrases like le cattoliche, meaning the Catholic women, or famiglie cattoliche, meaning Catholic families. The corresponding masculine forms are cattolici (plural) and cattolico (singular). The term is common in religious, cultural, and sociological contexts and is often encountered in discussions about Italian Catholic life, traditions, and communities.

In the broader linguistic sense, cattoliche is part of the larger set of terms describing religious identity in Italian, alongside riferimenti to la Chiesa cattolica (the Catholic Church) and cattolicesimo (Catholicism). While the word itself is neutral in meaning, its usage can convey social or cultural perspectives depending on context, ranging from neutral descriptive language to expressions of affiliation or belonging.

See also: Catholic Church, Catholicism, Italian language, Italian culture.