novice

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person who is new to and inexperienced in a field or activity

   Although still a novice at climbing, she followed every safety instruction carefully.

2. 2
   noun

   a new member of a religious order who has not yet taken final vows

   The novice spent a year learning the order's rules before taking her vows.

From Middle English novice, through Anglo-Norman and Middle French, from Latin novicius, "newly arrived or newly introduced," based on novus, "new." Late Latin used the noun for someone newly admitted to a monastery, from which the general beginner sense developed.

Topics