Catechism
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 A book, in question and answer form, summarizing the basic principles of Christianity.
- 2 an elementary book summarizing the principles of a Christian religion; written as questions and answers wordnet
- 3 A basic manual in some subject.
- 4 a series of questions put to an individual (such as a political candidate) to elicit their views wordnet
- 5 A set of questions designed to determine knowledge.
"...the walls were covered with paper, whose original colour and pattern had long since merged in a dingy brown; over this were hung up some unframed drawings, and some shelves on which were ranged all the old school books, grammars, Pinnock's catechisms, and one or two French novels that had belonged to a former governess."
Example
More examples""I don’t care about that right now; I would rather (if you please) learn from my Catechism about the Lord's Day." "As you like.""
Etymology
From Late Latin catechismus, from Ancient Greek *κατηχισμός (*katēkhismós), from κατηχίζω (katēkhízō, “to catechize”), a later extended form of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to catechize, instruct, teach by word of mouth”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχέω (ēkhéō, “to sound, resound”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.