catechumen (kat-i-KYOO-men) noun

   1. One who is receiving religious instruction in preparation for baptism;
      a neophyte.

   2. A person who is being given basic education of a subject.

[From Late Latin catechumenus, from Greek katechoumenos (one being taught
orally).

   "I gave him the manuscript of my first novel to read and awaited his
   verdict with the expectancy of a catechumen. And when I received his
   letter - generous, with approval and advice - I felt happy."
   Mario Vargas Llosa, The Trumpet of Deya, Review of Contemporary Fiction
   (McLean, Illinois), Spring 1997.

This week's theme: words to describe people.

Today's AWAD is sponsored by NannyTax, Inc., offering on-line tax preparation
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............................................................................
The heights by great men reached and kept / Were not attained by sudden
flight, / But they, while their companions slept, / Were toiling upward in
the night. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (1807-1882)

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Pronunciation:
http://wordsmith.org/words/catechumen.wav
http://wordsmith.org/words/catechumen.ram