katechon

K5A1T1E1C3H4O1N1

noun

Someone or something (of disputed identity) whose removal is necessary before the Antichrist can be fully manifested, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 in the Bible.

OriginAncient Greek κατέχον →
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

noun
  1. lifestyleSomeone or something (of disputed identity) whose removal is necessary before the Antichrist can be fully manifested, according to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 in the Bible.

    He [Peter Thiel] frequently oscillates between talking about the antichrist and the katechon – a term very briefly used in the Bible that refers to something holding back the coming of the antichrist.

    2025 October 10, Johana Bhuiyan, Dara Kerr, Nick Robins-Early, “Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekκατέχων“the one who withholds”
  2. Ancient Greekκατέχον“that which withholds”
  3. Englishkatechon

Borrowed from Ancient Greek κατέχον (katékhon, “that which withholds”) or Ancient Greek κατέχων (katékhōn, “the one who withholds”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

German Katechon
  • KatechonTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

katechon. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/katechon

MLA

“katechon.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/katechon. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “katechon,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/katechon.

Source: katechon on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.