novitiate

or no·vi·ci·ate

[ noh-vish-ee-it, -eyt ]
See synonyms for novitiate on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the state or period of being a novice of a religious order or congregation.

  2. the quarters occupied by religious novices during probation.

  1. the state or period of being a beginner in anything.

  2. a novice.

Origin of novitiate

1
1590–1600; <Medieval Latin, equivalent to novīti(us) novice + -ātus-ate3

Words Nearby novitiate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use novitiate in a sentence

  • A petition to be made a nun without having to go through the novitiate in the white veil was placed before me, and I signed it.

    Balsamo, The Magician | Alexander Dumas
  • He spent some months in Prato with his friend Fra Diamante, who had been his companion in novitiate.

  • It was a position of great trust, and never before in the history of the monastery had it been given to a mere novitiate.

    Robert Annys: Poor Priest | Annie Nathan Meyer
  • I never dared ask myself what the outcome of it all would be; I wanted to finish my novitiate first.

    Flamsted quarries | Mary E. Waller
  • He was called another Confucius, and was even empowered by the authorities to establish a novitiate at Pekin.

    The Jesuits, 1534-1921 | Thomas J. Campbell

British Dictionary definitions for novitiate

novitiate

noviciate

/ (nəʊˈvɪʃɪɪt, -ˌeɪt) /


noun
  1. the state of being a novice, esp in a religious order, or the period for which this lasts

  2. the part of a religious house where the novices live

  1. a less common word for novice

Origin of novitiate

1
C17: from French noviciat, from Latin novīcius novice

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012