didactic

WOTD - 26 April 2010    

See also didàctic

English

Alternative forms

• didactick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek διδακτικός (didaktikos, “skilled in teaching”) from διδακτός (didaktos, “taught, learnt”) from διδάσκω (didaskō, “I teach, educate”)

Pronunciation

• enPR: dī-dăkˈtĭk, IPA: /daɪˈdæk.tɪk/

Adjective

didactic (comparative more didactic, superlative most didactic)

1. Instructive or intended to teach or demonstrate, especially with regard to morality. (I.e., didactic poetry)
2. Excessively moralizing.
3. Regarding medicine, teaching from textbooks rather than laboratory demonstration and clinical application.

Derived terms

• didact
• didactical
• didactically
• didacticism

Translations

instructive or intended to teach or demonstrate

Catalan: didàctic (ca) Croatian: didàktičkī (hr) Danish: didaktisk (da), belærende (da) Finnish: didaktinen (fi), opettavainen (fi) French: didactique (fr) German: didaktisch (de)

Italian: didattico (it) Norwegian: didaktisk (no) Russian: наставнический (ru), нравоучительный (ru), дидактический (ru), Spanish: didáctico (es) Swedish: didaktisk (sv)

excessively moralizing

Danish: didaktisk (da), docerende (da)

Russian: нравоучительный (ru)

teaching from textbooks rather than laboratory demonstration and application

Catalan: didàctic (ca) French: livresque (fr)

Noun

didactic (plural didactics)

1. (archaic) A treatise on teaching or education.

Translations

treatise on teaching