The process of teaching religious beliefs or other important ideas through a series of questions and answers.
From Greek 'katechizein' (to teach by word of mouth) combined with the suffix '-ization' (making into a process). The root 'kata-' means 'down' and 'echein' means 'to sound,' literally 'to sound down into someone's ears.'
This word shows how the Christian church turned oral teaching into a standardized method—catechisms became portable instruction manuals that traveled with missionaries and shaped how billions learned about faith, making it one of history's most effective teaching technologies before printed books.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.