catechumen

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • n catechumen a new convert being taught the principles of Christianity by a catechist
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • n Catechumen (Eccl) One who is receiving rudimentary instruction in the doctrines of Christianity; a neophyte; in the primitive church, one officially recognized as a Christian, and admitted to instruction preliminary to admission to full membership in the church.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n catechumen One who is under instruction in the first rudiments of Christianity; a neophyte. In the primitive church catechumens were the children of believing parents, or Jews or pagans not fully initiated in the principles of the Christian religion. They were admitted to this state by the imposition of hands and the sign of the cross, were divided into two or more classes, and in public worship were dismissed or retired to an outer court of the church before the liturgical or communion service.
    • n catechumen Figuratively, one who is beginning to acquire a knowledge of any doctrines or principles.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Catechumen kat-e-kū′men one who is being taught the rudiments of Christianity: the appellation given in the early Christian Church to those converted Jews and heathens who had not yet received baptism, but were undergoing a course of training and instruction preparatory to it
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Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
L. catechumenus, Gr. kathchoy`menos instructed, from kathchei^n. See Catechise
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
Gr. katēchoumenos, being taught, pr.p. pass. of katēche-ein, to teach.

Usage

In literature:

How many fair catechumens will there be found in all ages to repeat as much after Shakespear's Juliet!
"Table-Talk" by William Hazlitt
From your affectionate and grateful catechumen, E.B.B.
"The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1 of 2)" by Frederic G. Kenyon
The long probation called "abstinence" which led up to it is a survival of the primitive catechumenate with its scrutinies.
"Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 5" by Various
Immediately on his birth, he was made a catechumen; in his childhood he fell ill, and asked for baptism.
"An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine" by John Henry Cardinal Newman
Let all catechumens go out.
"Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 8" by Various
The noise brought people to his assistance, who found the catechumen cuffing the monk in the name of St. James the Minor.
"Voltaire's Romances" by François-Marie Arouet
A person was initiated among the Christians as soon as he was dipped; until then he was only a catechumen.
"A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 2 (of 10)" by François-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
Even The Catechumens Were Not Permitted To Recite The Lord's Prayer.
"A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 3 (of 10)" by François-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
We have seen under the article on "Baptism" that the Christian catechumens were not called initiated till after they had been baptized.
"A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 4 (of 10)" by François-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
Of all military catechumens Gustavus had the most thorny time.
"The Invisible Lodge" by Jean Paul
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