catechize
verbUS /ˈkætɪˌkaɪz/ · UK /ˈkatɪˌkaɪz/
Etymology Derived from Latin catēchizāre, from Ancient Greek κατηχίζω (katēkhízō), from κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “to teach (orally)”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχέω (ēkhéō, “to sound, to resound”).
1
To give oral instruction, especially of religion; (specifically) by the formal question-and-answer method; in the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church, to teach the catechism as preparation for confirmation.
2
To question at length.
- She promised herself to ascertain thoroughly, after they should be comfortably settled in the ship, the animus with which the book was to be written. She was a very good sailor and she liked to talk at sea; there her husband would not be able to escape from her, and she foresaw the manner in which she should catechise him.1888 September 29, Henry James, “[The Modern Warning.] Chapter V.”, in The Aspern Papers; Louisa Pallant; The Modern Warning, London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 260:
- Putting a strong American inflection into the French which I usually talked with an unmistakable British accent, I catechised the Baron as to the date of the church's building, its dimensions, and other details which an American tourist would be certain to want to know.1910, Saki [pseudonym; Hector Hugh Munro], “The Soul of Laploshka”, in Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC, page 73:
- Derived terms
- catechizable, catechization, catechizer, uncatechized