Word.ws English Dictionary

catechism

/ˈkætɪˌkɪzəm/

catechism noun: a book, in question and answer form, summarizing the basic principles of Christianity.

Noun

catechism (plural catechisms)

  1. A book, in question and answer form, summarizing the basic principles of Christianity.
  2. A basic manual in some subject.
  3. A set of questions designed to determine knowledge.
    • ...the walls were covered with paper, whose original colour and pattern had long since merged in a dingy brown; over this were hung up some unframed drawings, and some shelves on which were ranged all the old school books, grammars, Pinnock's catechisms, and one or two French novels that had...1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter V, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 43
    • Inscrutable His ways are, and immune
      To catechism by a mind too strewn
      With petty cares to slightly understand
      What awful brain compels His awful hand.1925, Countee Cullen, Yet Do I Marvel

catechism meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Indonesian

catechism in Tamil

மறைகல்வி

catechism in Malayalam

പ്രശ്നോത്തരപാഠം, ചോദ്യരൂപേണ നടത്തുന്ന പരീക്ഷ

catechism in Indonesian

book summarizing the principles of Christianity
katekismus

Forms of catechism

pluralcatechisms
alternative pronunciation-spelling (archaic, rare)categise

Plural of catechism: catechisms

Origin of catechism

From Late Latin catechismus, from Ancient Greek *κατηχισμός (*katēkhismós), from κατηχίζω (katēkhízō, “to catechize”), a later extended form of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to catechize, instruct, teach by word of mouth”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχέω (ēkhéō, “to sound, resound”).

Words formed from catechism

Questions about catechism

What does catechism mean?
Catechism means a book, in question and answer form, summarizing the basic principles of Christianity.
What is catechism in Tamil?
Catechism in Tamil is மறைகல்வி. See Catechism meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is catechism?
Catechism is a noun.
How do you pronounce catechism?
Catechism is pronounced /ˈkætɪˌkɪzəm/.
What is the plural of catechism?
The plural of catechism is catechisms.

Words near catechism in the dictionary

  1. catechiser
  2. catechisers
  3. catechises
  4. catechising
  5. catechisings
  6. catechism
  7. catechismal
  8. catechisme
  9. catechismes
  10. catechisms
  11. catechist

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: catechism (page history and authors); catechism (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); catechism (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-catechism.wav.

Cite this entry: “catechism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/catechism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.