The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CATECHUMEN
Definition of CATECHUMEN
noun
A student of Christian doctrine who studies it for the purpose of adopting it: either a convert to Christianity under instruction before baptism or a young or recent Christian preparing for confirmation.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English cathecumynys pl, from Middle French cathecumin (modern French catéchumène) or Ecclesiastical Latin catēchūmenus, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek κατηχούμενος (katēkhoúmenos, “being instructed”), present participle passive of κατηχέω (katēkhéō, “sound through, instruct orally, catechise”), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἠχή (ēkhḗ, “sound”).
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
12.5%
of traced words share this origin (3,477)
branch · 12.5% of traced words
How it is built
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CATECHUMEN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 1 board so far.
It first turned up on Day 137, 4 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 1 day.
First ever to find it
on Day 137, 4 October 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CATECHUMEN starts with C and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read ACCEEHMNTU - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. C and E appear more than once.
Words that start CATECH
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found CATECHUMEN?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 137 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER