novitiate means A novice. It carries an Arena rating of 1679, earned across 47 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, novitiate ranks #3,407 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,762 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #5,352 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #6,097 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
novitiate is pronounced /nəˈvɪʃi.ət/.
Why “novitiate” is a great word
NOVITIATE — [Noun] The probationary period or state of being a religious novice, or the secluded residence where such formative training occurs. First attested in 1517; from Medieval Latin noviciātus, novitiātus ("a novitiate"), from Latin novicius, novitius ("new, inexperienced") + -ātus (suffix forming nouns of state or office), from novus ("new"). Unlike "novice" (which denotes the person) or "apprenticeship" (which implies a trade's practical mastery), a novitiate is the vessel of transformation—the temporal, spiritual, and architectural container for a specific kind of becoming. It is the silent corridor at dawn, the deliberately folded habit, the single window-framed view of a garden for a full year; a formalized limbo where the self is methodically softened, awaiting a new shape.
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.
noun
- A novice.
- The period during which a novice of a religious order undergoes training.e.g.“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:
- The place where a novice lives and studies.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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