catechism

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin catēchismus (“book of instruction”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} and perhaps partly borrowed from Middle French catéchisme, recorded in French from the 14th century.^{[8][3][9][10]} Etymonline, Klein and the American Heritage Dictionary derive the Latin noun from Ancient Greek κατηχισμός (katēkhismós),^[8][10][9] but the OED treats that Greek form as only a type, taken as equal to κατήχησις (katḗkhēsis), the source of catechesis,^[2] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged takes the Latin noun as probably formed from catēchizō (“to catechize”) on the model of pairs such as christianizō (“to profess Christianity”) and christianismus (“Christianity”).^[4] The Latin verb, the source of catechize, comes from Ancient Greek κατηχίζω (katēkhízō, “to instruct orally”), a derivative of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to resound; to din in, teach orally”), from κατά (katá, “down, thoroughly”) and ἠχέω (ēkhéō, “to sound, ring”);^[2][11][3] the last is related to echo.^[11][3] The OED notes that the simple verb occurs in the New Testament, while the derivative came in later and had only its technical church use.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Instruction in the principles of Christianity: 1502, in a translation of the Ordynarye of Crysten Men printed by Wynkyn de Worde.^[2][3][4] Etymonline dates the word to about 1500.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Ayto explains that to catechize someone was at first literally to din instruction into them, and so to teach by word of mouth.^[11] In English the sense "catechetical instruction" lasted until 1616 in the OED,^[2] and the word soon came to mean a book of such instruction in question-and-answer form: 1509 in Barnhart and the 1989 edition of the OED, 1518, in John Colet's statutes for St Paul's School, in the revised OED.^[3][12][2] Shakespeare used it figuratively in 1598, in Henry IV, Part 1, for a course of question and answer.^[2] From 1627 it was used of a question-and-answer book on any subject, in the 17th century chiefly of parodies of the religious ones.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as a form of instruction in religion by questions and answers, quoting Hooker.^[13] Modern dictionaries add a close questioning, as of a candidate,^[14][15][16] and a body of principles accepted without criticism.^[14]

Timeline

• 1502 – catechetical instruction (obsolete in the OED by 1616).^[2][4]
• 1509 – a book of instruction in the Christian religion by question and answer.^[12][3] The revised OED's first record is from 1518.^[2]
• 1598 – a course of question and answer, in Shakespeare.^[2]
• 1627 – a question-and-answer book on another subject.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A summary of the basic beliefs of a Christian church, set out as questions and answers for teaching: The class learned the catechism before their confirmation.^{[14][4][2][15]}
2. A manual of basic instruction in any subject, often learned by rote or by question and answer.^[14][2][16]
3. A set of formal questions put as a test; a close or persistent questioning, as of a candidate.^{[16][14][15][2]}
4. A body of basic principles or beliefs, especially when accepted without criticism.^[14]
5. Oral instruction, especially in religion; the OED marks this sense obsolete (1502–1616).^[4][16][2]

Word family

• catechismal

Related words

• catechesis
• catechetical
• catechist
• catechize
• catechumen
• echo

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster