Dictionary

novitiate en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /nəˈvɪʃi.ət/
• /nəʊ-/

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.

Meanings

1. A novice.
2. 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. 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 214:
3. The place where a novice lives and studies.

Forms

Deriveds

novitiateship · novitiation

Relateds

novelize · novella · novelization · novelty · novel · novice

Translations (17)

ru послу́шник (a novice) · bg послушник (a novice) · pl nowicjat (the period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training) · mk ѓак (a novice) · ru послушница (a novice) · mk искушеник (a novice) · mk искушеничка (a novice) · mk послушник (a novice) · mk послушничка (a novice) · ru послушничество (the period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training) · sv novitiat (the period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training) · pl nowicjuszka (a novice) · nl noviciaat (the period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training) · pl nowicjusz (a novice) · nl novitiaat (the period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training) · nl novice (a novice) · de Noviziat (the period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training)