catechumen

English

WOTD – 16 October 2009

Etymology

From Middle English cathecumynys pl, from Middle French cathecumin (modern French catéchumène)[1] or Ecclesiastical Latin catēchūmenus,[2] 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”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌkæt.ɪˈkjuː.mɛn/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌkæt.əˈkju.mən/

Noun

catechumen (plural catechumens)

  1. A student of Christian doctrine who studies it for the purpose of adopting it: either a convert to Christianity under instruction before baptism or a young or recent Christian preparing for confirmation.
    Coordinate term: catechist (the instructor)
    • 1963, Thomas Pynchon, V.:
      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.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “catechumen, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “catechumen (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.