Catechize
verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To give oral instruction, especially of religion; (specifically) by the formal question-and-answer method; in the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church, to teach the catechism as preparation for confirmation. transitive
- 2 examine through questioning and answering wordnet
- 3 To question at length. transitive
"She promised herself to ascertain thoroughly, after they should be comfortably settled in the ship, the animus with which the book was to be written. She was a very good sailor and she liked to talk at sea; there her husband would not be able to escape from her, and she foresaw the manner in which she should catechise him."
- 4 give religious instructions to wordnet
Example
More examples"She promised herself to ascertain thoroughly, after they should be comfortably settled in the ship, the animus with which the book was to be written. She was a very good sailor and she liked to talk at sea; there her husband would not be able to escape from her, and she foresaw the manner in which she should catechise him."
Etymology
Derived from Latin catechizare, from Ancient Greek κατηχίζω (katēkhízō), from κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to teach (orally)”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχέω (ēkhéō, “to sound, to resound”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.