902 CAT 
land of this dubious nature is there called catch-land, , from 
this cuftont of feizing the tithes. Cowel. 
CATCH-POLL, f. A ferjeant; a bumbailiff.— Catch- 
foil, though now it be ufed as a word of contempt, yet ? 
tn ancient times, it feems to have been ufed without re¬ 
proach, for fuch as we now call ferjeants of the mace, or 
any other that tiles to arreft men upon any caufe. Cowel. 
CATCH-WORD .,■/. in printed books, that placed at 
the bottom of each page, being always the firli word of the 
following page. It has been the fafhion lately with home 
printers, to omit the catch-words ; but the great utility 
of them certainly warrants their continuance. 
CATCHER,yi He that catches ; that in which any 
thing is caught.—Scallops will move fo ftrongly, as often¬ 
times to leap out of the catcher wherein they are caught. 
Grew. 
CATCHOWL', one of the Nicobar Illands. Lat.7.55. 
N. Ion. 93. 58. E. Greenwich. 
CATCHWA'NA, a town of Hindooftan, in the coun¬ 
try of Agimere : thirty-fix miles W.N.W. of Agimere. 
CATE,/! Food; lamething to be eaten. This isjcarcely 
read in the Jingular. See Cates. 
We’ll fee what cates you have, 
For loldier’s llomachs always fierve them well. Shake/p. 
CATEAU' CAMBRE'SIS, a town of France, in the 
department of the North, and chief place of a canton, in 
the d'.flrift of Cambray, on the Seilie. Before the revo¬ 
lution it belonged to the archbilbop of Cambray, and was 
exempt from imports. In J559, a treaty of peace was made 
here between Flenryll. king of France, and Philip II. 
king of Spain : fifteen miles fouth-eall of Cambray. On 
the 29th of March, 1794, the French were defeated near 
Cateau, by the prince of Coburg, with the lofs of 5000 
killed. 
CATECHE'SIS, f. An inftruclion given in the firrt ru¬ 
diments of an art or fcience ; but more efpecially of the 
Chrirtian religion. In the ancient church, catechelis was 
inffruftion viva voce, either to children, or adult heathens, 
preparatory to their receiving of baptifm. In this fenfe, 
catechefis (lands contradirtinguilhed from myflagogica, which 
were a higher part of inftruftion given to thofe already ini¬ 
tiated, and containing the mvfteries of faith. Thofe who 
give fuch inrtructions are called catechifts ; and thofe who 
receive them, catechumens. 
CATECHE'TIC,or Catechetical, adj. Something 
that relates to oral inffruclion in rite rudiments of Chrif- 
tianirv. Catechetic fchools were buildings appointed for 
the office of the catcchill, adjoining to the church, and 
called cattchvmena: fuch was that in which Origen and 
many other famous men read catechetical leCttires at Alex¬ 
andria. See Catechumen. —Socrates introduced a cate¬ 
chetical method of arguing ; he would a(k his adverlary 
queftion upon queftion, till he convinced him, out of his. 
own mouth, that his opinions were wrong. AddiJ'on. 
C ATECHE'TIC ALLY, a civ. In the way of queftion 
and anfwer. 
Tu CA'TECHISE, v. a. [ catechijer, Fr. of 
xccict. and nyyu, Gr. to found back ; i. e. to anfwer to the 
found of another.] To inflrudl by a (king queftions, and 
correcting the anfwers.—I will cateckije the world for him ; 
that is, make queftions, and bid them anfwer. Shakcfpeare. 
—To queftion ; to interrogate ; to examine ; to try by in T 
terrogatorjes: 
There flies about a rtrange report, 
Of fonie expi cfs arriv’d at court 
I’m flopp’d by all the fools I meet-, 
And catechis'd in every ftreet. Swift. 
G A'TECH [SER,/! One who catechifes.. 
C A'TECHISM, J. [catechijme, Fr. catechifmo, Ital. ca- 
tacifmo , Span. calecJiifmus, I.at. x.»r of y.arr,^fur, 
Gr.] A form of inflrudlion by means of queftions and an¬ 
swers, concerning religion.—He had, no caiechifm but the 
CAT 
creation, needed no ftudy but reflection, and read no book 
but the volume of the world. South. 
CA'TECHIST, f. [ calechijle , Fr catechijla, Lat. of 
kuto x'rnc, Gr.] One whofe charge is to inftruCt by quef- 
tions, or to queftion the uninftructed concerning religion. 
—None of years and knowledge was admitted, who had 
not been inftruCled by the catechifi in this foundation, which 
the catechijl received from the bilhop. Hammond. 
CATECHU', f. in botany. See Areca. 
CA TECHUME'NICAL, ad). Belonging to the cate¬ 
chumens. 
C Ad ECHU'MENS, f. [ catcchumenes , Fr. catechumeni., 
Lat. of Gr.] Candidates for baptifm; in 
church-hiftory, Were the lowed order of Chriftians in the 
primitivechurch. They had fome title to the name of Chril- 
tian, being a degree above pagans and heretics, though 
not confommated by baptifm. They were admitted to the 
Hate of catechumens by the impofition of hands, and the 
fign ot the crofs. The children of believing parents were 
admitted catechumens, as foon as ever they were capable 
of inflruClion : but, at what age thofe of heathen parents 
might be admitted, is not fo clear. As to the time of their 
continuance in this (late, there were no general rules fixed 
about it ; but the practice varied according to the differ¬ 
ence of times and places, and the readinefs and proficiency 
of the catechumens themfolves. 
CATEGO'RICAL, adj. Abfolute ; adequate ; pofitive ; 
equal to the thing to be exprelfed.—The king’s commif- 
fioners defired to know, whether the parliament’s conunif- 
fioners did believe that biftiops were unlawful ? They could 
never obtain a categorical anfwer. Clarendon. —A fingle pro- 
pofition, which is alfo categorical , may be divided again 
into fimple and complex. Walts. 
CATEGO'RIC ALLY, adv. Direclly; exprefsly ; po- 
fitively ; plainly.—I dare affirm, and that categorically, in 
all parts wherever trade is great, and continues fo, that 
trade mult be nationally profitable. Child. 
CA'TEGORY,/! \_categorie, Fr. categoria, Ital. Span, 
and I.at. yocTnye^iK, of ya. r ra.yo^co, Gr. to argue.] A clals ; 
a rank ; an order of ideas ; a predicament.—The abfolute 
infinitude, in a manner, quite changes the nature of be¬ 
ings, and exalts them into a different category. Chcyne. 
CA'TEGORY, f. in logic, a feries or order of all the 
predicates or attributes contained under any genus. The 
schoolmen diilribute all the objeCls of our thoughts and 
ideas into certain genera, or claffes, not lo much, fay they, 
to learn what they do "not know, as to communicate a dif- 
tinfl notion of what they do know ; and thefe claffes the 
Greeks called categories , and the Latins predicaments. Arif- 
totle made nine categories, viz. quantity, quality, relation, 
aClion, paffion, time, place, fituation, and habit, which 
are ufually exprelfed by the following technical diftich : 
Arbor, fex, fervos, ardor.-, refrigeral, ujlos, 
Rure eras jlabo, ncc tunicatus ero . 
CATEIA'DON,/. [from xo /] a) an d si«, Gr. a blade of 
grafs.] An inllrumeat having at the end a blade of grafs, 
or made like a blade of grafs, which, in the ancient medi¬ 
cal practice, was thrurt into the noffrils to provoke an he¬ 
morrhage for the head-ach. v 
GAT ET.HL-VE'GON,/! in botany. SeeARiSTOLo- 
C 2 H IA . 
CATE'MA, a town of Arabia: 120 miles fouth eaflof 
El Catif. 
C ATENA'RI A,/! ^oicatena-, Lat. a chain. ] In mecha¬ 
nical geometry, the curve which a rope., hanging freely 
between two points of fufpenfion, forms-itfolf into. It is 
called the catenarian curve. See Fluxions, and Geo¬ 
metry. 
CATENA'RIAN, adj. Relating to a chain ; refensbling 
a chahi.—The back is bent afier the manner of the catena¬ 
rian curve, by which it obtains that curvature that is fa felt 
for the included marrow. Cheyne. 
To. CA'l ENAXE, v. a. [front catena y Lat.] To chain. 
G AT E? 
