catechize. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

catechize

SYLLABICATION:	cat·e·chize
PRONUNCIATION:	kt-kz
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: cat·e·chized, cat·e·chiz·ing, cat·e·chiz·es 1. To teach the principles of Christian dogma, discipline, and ethics by means of questions and answers. 2. To question or examine closely or methodically: “Boswell was eternally catechizing him on all kinds of subjects” (Thomas Macaulay).
ETYMOLOGY:	Middle English catecizen, from Old French catechiser, from Medieval Latin catchizre, from Late Greek katkhizein, from Greek katkhein : kata-, down, off, out; see cata– + khein, to sound (from kh, sound).
OTHER FORMS:	cate·chi·zation (-k-zshn) —NOUN cate·chizer —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.