novitiate

American  

[noh-vish-ee-it, -eyt] / noʊˈvɪʃ i ɪt, -ˌeɪt /

Or noviciate

noun

1. the state or period of being a novice of a religious order or congregation.

2. the quarters occupied by religious novices during probation.

3. the state or period of being a beginner in anything.

4. a novice.

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novitiate British  

/ -ˌeɪt, nəʊˈvɪʃɪɪt /

noun

1. the state of being a novice, esp in a religious order, or the period for which this lasts

2. the part of a religious house where the novices live

3. a less common word for novice

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Etymology

Origin of novitiate

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin, equivalent to novīti ( us ) novice + -ātus -ate ³

Example Sentences

Set in Rome in 1971 just before the events of the first movie, “The First Omen’s” central figure is Margaret Daino, a dewy, virginal American novitiate played by Nell Tiger Free.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 5, 2024

Knowledge Fight’s comic conceit has the Infowars voyeur Mr. Friesen reviewing Mr. Jones’s broadcasts with Mr. Holmes, who plays an Infowars novitiate.

From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2021

In 1977, she entered the Ursuline novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph in Maple Mount, Ky. She moved to Guatemala after teaching kindergarten in Kentucky.

From Washington Post • Feb. 19, 2021

After she completes her candidacy in the coming months, she will enter the two-year novitiate phase.

From Washington Times • Oct. 20, 2018

She submits to my mother like a solemn novitiate.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García