neophyte
[ nee-uh-fahyt ]
/ ˈni əˌfaɪt /
noun
a beginner or novice: He's a neophyte at chess.
Roman Catholic Church. a novice.
a person newly converted to a belief, as a heathen, heretic, or nonbeliever; proselyte.
Primitive Church. a person newly baptized.
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RELATED WORDS
newcomer, novice, tenderfoot, colt, trainee, recruit, abecedarian, amateur, rookie, freshman, fledgling, greenhorn, tyro, apprentice
Nearby words
- neoorthodoxy,
- neopaganism,
- neopallium,
- neophilia,
- neophobia,
- neopilina,
- neoplasia,
- neoplasm,
- neoplasticism,
- neoplasty
Origin of neophyte
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for neophyte
neophyte
/ (ˈniːəʊˌfaɪt) /
noun
a person newly converted to a religious faith
RC Church a novice in a religious order
a novice or beginner
Word Origin for neophyte
C16: via Church Latin from New Testament Greek neophutos recently planted, from neos new + phuton a plant
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
neophyte
"new convert," 1550s, from Ecclesiastical Latin neophytus, from Greek neophytos "a new convert," noun use of adjective meaning "newly initiated, newly converted," literally "newly planted," from neos "new" (see new) + phytos "grown; planted," verbal adjective of phyein "cause to grow, beget, plant" (see physic). Church sense is from I Tim. iii:6. Rare before 19c. General sense of "one who is new to any subject" is first recorded 1590s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper