Novitiate

//nəˈvɪʃi.ət// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A novice.
  2. 2
    someone who has entered a religious order but has not taken final vows wordnet
  3. 3
    The period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training.

    "Three weeks after the departure of the Mandevilles, all Naples flocked to witness the profession of a young Englishwoman, a dispensation having been obtained for the novitiate."

  4. 4
    the period during which you are a novice (especially in a religious order) wordnet
  5. 5
    The place where a novice lives and studies.

Synonyms

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abecedarianalphabetarianapprenticebabybeginnerbeginner

Antonyms

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maven

Example

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"Three weeks after the departure of the Mandevilles, all Naples flocked to witness the profession of a young Englishwoman, a dispensation having been obtained for the novitiate."

Etymology

First attested in 1517; either borrowed from Middle French noviciat, novitiat or from Medieval Latin noviciātus, novitiātus (“a novitiate”), from Latin novicius, novitius + -ātus (see -ate (forming nouns denoting a rank or office)), from novus (“new”). Sense 1 is not attested in cognates.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.