acolyte

[ak-uh-lahyt]

See more synonyms for acolyte on Thesaurus.com

noun

an altar attendant in public worship.
Roman Catholic Church.
1. a member of the highest-ranking of the four minor orders.
2. the order itself.Compare exorcist(def 2), lector(def 2), ostiary(def 1).
any attendant, assistant, or follower.

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

Related Words for acolyte

follower, aid, helper, assistant

Examples from the Web for acolyte

Contemporary Examples of acolyte

Still, the tradition of a hero with a younger, or everyman, acolyte stretches back to antiquity.
Holy Homophobia, Batman! A Queer Reading of the Dark Knight
Rich Goldstein
July 26, 2014
One of these heroes is an insect-loving contemporary of Charles Darwin, the other a crocodile-wrestling Steve Irwin acolyte.
Exploring the Amazon, While We Still Can
Darrell Hartman
May 15, 2014
Yee was, as Brown writes, a Brown acolyte at one point, representing a district of middle class single-family homeowners.
The Gun-Running Senator Leland Yee
David Freedlander
April 2, 2014
Truthiness is as truthiness does, and clearly: Acolyte Oren does truthiness very, very well.
Michael Oren's Truthiness
Emily L. Hauser
March 6, 2013
In the meantime, he serves as an acolyte at Grace Episcopal Church, and has had the honor of carrying the cross.
Message to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: America’s Greater Than Ever
Michael Daly
August 15, 2012

Historical Examples of acolyte

I was to wear the red gown and the white cape of an acolyte!
Maurice Tiernay Soldier of Fortune
Charles James Lever
An acolyte does well not to express his emotions too clearly.
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett
As an acolyte, after all, he rated just barely above a layman; he had no powers whatever.
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett
If you weren't an acolyte, I'd take a poke at you just to see you bounce.
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett
"The only Kano, the only Kano," mused the acolyte over his tea.
The Dragon Painter
Mary McNeil Fenollosa

British Dictionary definitions for acolyte

acolyte

noun

a follower or attendant
Christianity an officer who attends or assists a priest

Word Origin for acolyte

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for acolyte

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.