catechizo

Forms

catēchizō (present infinitive catēchizāre, perfect active catēchizāvī, supine catēchizātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κατηχίζω (katēkhízō), a Hellenistic variant of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to instruct orally; to instruct in religion”), which is made of κατά (katá, “down”) and ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound, noise”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from the Itala and Tertullian on, and never in the poets.^[3] Tertullian asks whether someone who teaches about idols commits idolatry.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In Christian Latin it meant to instruct, especially in the faith, and to teach by question and answer.^[2][4] Augustine uses it of candidates being instructed before baptism, and Jerome, commenting on Galatians, distinguishes the one who is taught from the one who teaches.^[3] Medieval writers used it for preparing someone for baptism and for instructing in the Christian faith.^[5] The manuscripts spell it in many ways (-thec-, -tec-, -thez-, -tez-).^[3]

English catechize comes from this Church Latin verb.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of teaching, in his treatise on idolatry and against Marcion.^[3][2][7]
• after 220 AD – The Itala, the Old Latin Bible, has it.^[3][7]
• 354–430 AD – Augustine uses it of instructing candidates for baptism.^[3][7]
• early 15th century – English borrows it as catechize.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To instruct orally, to teach; to teach by question and answer.^[2][4]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To instruct in the Christian faith, to catechize.^[2][5][1]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To prepare for baptism.^[3][5]

Word family

• praecatechizatus

Related words

• English catechize

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
5. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de