novitiate

  • 1Novitiate — Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice (or prospective) monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life. A novice …

    Wikipedia

  • 2Novitiate — No*vi ti*ate, n. [LL. novitiatus: cf. F. noviciat.] [1913 Webster] 1. The state of being a novice; time of initiation or instruction in rudiments. [1913 Webster] 2. Hence: The time of probation in a religious house before taking the vows. [1913… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3novitiate — index apprentice, preparation, probationer (one being tested) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 4novitiate — (n.) also noviciate, state of being a novice, c.1600, from M.Fr. noviciat or directly from M.L. novitiatus, from L.L. novitius novice, from Latin adjective novicius (see NOVICE (Cf. novice)) …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5novitiate — *novice, apprentice, probationer, postulant, neophyte …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 6novitiate — (also noviciate) ► NOUN 1) the period or state of being a novice. 2) a religious novice. 3) a place housing religious novices …

    English terms dictionary

  • 7novitiate — [nō vish′it; ] also, and chiefly Brit [, nōvish′ē it, nō vish′ēāt΄] n. [Fr noviciat < ML novitiatus] 1. a) the period or state of being a novice b) NOVICE 2. the quarters assigned to religious novices: Also Chiefly Brit. noviciate …

    English World dictionary

  • 8novitiate — UK [nəʊˈvɪʃɪət] / US [noʊˈvɪʃət] / US [noʊˈvɪʃɪət] noun [countable] Word forms novitiate : singular novitiate plural novitiates the period of time that someone spends as a novice in a religious community …

    English dictionary

  • 9novitiate — noun 1) his novitiate lasts a year Syn: probationary period, probation, trial period, test period, apprenticeship, training period, traineeship, training, initiation 2) two young novitiates Syn: novice, neophyte …

    Thesaurus of popular words

  • 10novitiate — noun Etymology: French noviciat, from Medieval Latin noviciatus, from novicius Date: 1600 1. the period or state of being a novice 2. a house where novices are trained 3. novice …

    New Collegiate Dictionary