Catechumen
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A convert to Christianity under instruction before baptism; a young or recent Christian preparing for confirmation.
"Here in this room an old man had killed and boiled a catechumen, had committed sodomy with a rat, had discussed a rodent nunhood with V., a future saint – depending which story you listened to."
- 2 a new convert being taught the principles of Christianity by a catechist wordnet
Example
More examples"Here in this room an old man had killed and boiled a catechumen, had committed sodomy with a rat, had discussed a rodent nunhood with V., a future saint – depending which story you listened to."
Etymology
From Middle English cathecumynys pl, from Middle French cathecumin (modern French catéchumène) or Ecclesiastical Latin catēchūmenus, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek κατηχούμενος (katēkhoúmenos, “being instructed”), present participle passive of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “sound through, instruct orally, catechise”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound”).
More for "catechumen"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.