DIDACTIC


Meaning of DIDACTIC in English

I. dīˈdaktik, -tēk, Brit usually & US sometimes də̇ˈd- noun

( -s )

Etymology: Greek didaktikos apt at teaching

1. archaic

a. : a didactic treatise

b. : a didactic writer

2. didactics plural but singular or plural in construction : systematic instruction : pedagogy ; sometimes : teachings

II. (ˈ)dī|d-, Brit usually & US sometimes də̇ˈd- adjective

also di·dac·ti·cal -tə̇kəl, -tēk-

Etymology: Greek didaktikos apt at teaching, from didaktos taught, able to be taught (from didaskein to teach) + -ikos -ic

1. : fitted or intended to teach : concerned with or functioning in the conveyance of instruction: as

a. : teaching some moral lesson

the didactic aspect of the Mysteries is often overlooked

b. of literature or other art : intended to convey instruction and information as well as pleasure and entertainment

didactic poetry

a fine piece of didactic writing

often : overburdened with instructive or factual matter to the exclusion of graceful and pleasing detail : pompously dull and erudite : dry

his writing became increasingly arid and didactic as he withdrew from normal social life

to write a didactic play is to suppose … the public in need of your advice — E.R.Bentley

c. : involving lecture and textbook instruction rather than demonstration and laboratory study

a purely didactic course

both didactic and laboratory instruction are used

d. of grammar : normative

2. : making moral observations : urging the acceptance of moral conclusions : moralistic

• di·dac·ti·cal·ly -tə̇k(ə)lē, -tēk-, -li adverb

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.