Word of the Day

: October 19, 2006

propaedeutic

noun proh-pih-DOO-tik

What It Means

: preparatory study or instruction

propaedeutic in Context

"Families in state programs that stressed immediate work earned ... more per year than families in states that emphasized job training or education as a propaedeutic to work." (Richard Nadler, National Review, November 6, 2000)

Did You Know?

You don't have to be a walking encyclopedia to use it, but "propaedeutic" does tend to occur mostly in scholarly discussions of learning and education. "I take thinking not to be a source of any moral code or set of ethical principles but a propaedeutic, a preparation for discernment and indeterminate judgment," wrote Dr. Elizabeth Minnich, for example, in Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning. "Propaedeutic" might be a "hard" word, but one easy thing to remember about it is that it is closely related to "encyclopedia." "Encyclopedia" is from Greek "paideia," meaning "education," plus "enkyklios," meaning "general." "Propaedeutic" is from Greek "paideuein," meaning "to teach," plus "pro-," which means "before." "Paideia" and "paideuein" both spring from the root "paid-," which means "child."