acolyte
[ak-uh-lahyt]
- an altar attendant in public worship.
- Roman Catholic Church.
- a member of the highest-ranking of the four minor orders.
- the order itself.Compare exorcist(def 2), lector(def 2), ostiary(def 1).
- any attendant, assistant, or follower.
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Origin of acolyte
1275–1325; Middle English acolite < Medieval Latin acolytus < Greek akólouthos follower, attendant, equivalent to a- prefix denoting association + -kolouthos, variant of kéleuthos road, journey
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for acolyte
Contemporary Examples
Still, the tradition of a hero with a younger, or everyman, acolyte stretches back to antiquity.
One of these heroes is an insect-loving contemporary of Charles Darwin, the other a crocodile-wrestling Steve Irwin acolyte.
Yee was, as Brown writes, a Brown acolyte at one point, representing a district of middle class single-family homeowners.
Truthiness is as truthiness does, and clearly: Acolyte Oren does truthiness very, very well.
In the meantime, he serves as an acolyte at Grace Episcopal Church, and has had the honor of carrying the cross.
Historical Examples
I was to wear the red gown and the white cape of an acolyte!
Maurice Tiernay Soldier of FortuneCharles James Lever
An acolyte does well not to express his emotions too clearly.
Pagan PassionsGordon Randall Garrett
As an acolyte, after all, he rated just barely above a layman; he had no powers whatever.
Pagan PassionsGordon Randall Garrett
If you weren't an acolyte, I'd take a poke at you just to see you bounce.
Pagan PassionsGordon Randall Garrett
"The only Kano, the only Kano," mused the acolyte over his tea.
The Dragon PainterMary McNeil Fenollosa
acolyte
- a follower or attendant
- Christianity an officer who attends or assists a priest
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Word Origin
C16: via Old French and Medieval Latin from Greek akolouthos a follower
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for acolyte
n.
early 14c., "inferior officer in the church," from Old French acolite or directly from Medieval Latin acolytus (Late Latin acoluthos), from Greek akolouthos "following, attending on," literally "having one way," from a- "together with," copulative prefix, + keleuthose "a way, road, path, track," from PIE *qeleu- (cf. Lithuanian kelias "way"). In late Old English as a Latin word.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper