Catechumen

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Catechumen \Cat"e*chu`men\, n. [L. catechumenus, Gr.
     kathchoy`menos instructed, from kathchei^n. See {Catechise}.]
     (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.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  catechumen
       n : a new convert being taught the principles of Christianity by
           a catechist [syn: {neophyte}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  70 Moby Thesaurus words for "catechumen":
     Christian, God-fearing man, abecedarian, accepter, alphabetarian,
     apprentice, articled clerk, baby, beginner, believer, boot,
     brother, church member, churchgoer, churchite, churchman,
     churchwoman, communicant, convert, daily communicant, deb,
     debutant, devotee, devotionalist, disciple, entrant, fanatic,
     fledgling, follower, freshman, good Christian, greenhorn, greeny,
     ignoramus, inductee, infant, initiate, laic, lay brother,
     lay sister, layman, laywoman, learner, neophyte, nestling, new boy,
     newcomer, novice, novitiate, parishioner, pietist, postulant,
     probationer, probationist, proselyte, raw recruit, receiver,
     recruit, religionist, rookie, saint, secular, sister, tenderfoot,
     theist, trainee, truster, tyro, votary, zealot