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neophyte - 4 dictionary results

ne⋅o⋅phyte

  [nee-uh-fahyt]
Use neophyte in a Sentence
–noun
1. a beginner or novice: He's a neophyte at chess.
2. Roman Catholic Church. a novice.
3. a person newly converted to a belief, as a heathen, heretic, or nonbeliever; proselyte.
4. Primitive Church. a person newly baptized.
Origin:
1540–50; < LL neophytus newly planted < Gk neóphytos. See neo-, -phyte

Related forms:
ne⋅o⋅phyt⋅ic  [nee-uh-fit-ik] , ne⋅o⋅phyt⋅ish  [nee-uh-fahy-tish] , adjective
ne⋅o⋅phyt⋅ism  [nee-uh-fahy-tiz-uhm] , noun

Synonyms:
1. greenhorn, tyro.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ne·o·phyte   (nē'ə-fīt')   
n.  
  1. A recent convert to a belief; a proselyte.
  2. A beginner or novice: a neophyte at politics.
    1. Roman Catholic Church A newly ordained priest.
    2. A novice of a religious order or congregation.

[Middle English, from Late Latin neophytus, from Greek neophutos : neo-, neo- + -phutos, planted (from phuein, to bring forth; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Neophyte

Ne"o*phyte\, n. [L. neophytis, Gr. ?, prop., newly planted; ? new + ? grown, ? that which has grown, a plant, fr. ? to grow: cf. F. n['e]ophyte. See New, and Be.]

1. A new convert or proselyte; -- a name given by the early Christians, and still given by the Roman Catholics, to such as have recently embraced the Christian faith, and been admitted to baptism, esp. to converts from heathenism or Judaism.

2. A novice; a tyro; a beginner in anything.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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neophyte 
"new convert," c.1550, from L.L. neophytus, from Gk. neophytos, lit. "newly planted," from neos "new" + -phytos "planted," verbal adj. of phyein "cause to grow, beget, plant." Church sense is from I Tim. iii.6. Rare before 19c. General sense of "one who is new to any subject" is first recorded 1599.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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