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votary

[voh-tuh-ree]
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noun, plural vo·ta·ries. Also vo·ta·rist.
  1. a person who is bound by solemn religious vows, as a monk or a nun.
  2. an adherent of a religion or cult; a worshiper of a particular deity or sacred personage.
  3. a person who is devoted or addicted to some subject or pursuit: a votary of jazz.
  4. a devoted follower or admirer.
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adjective
  1. consecrated by a vow.
  2. of or relating to a vow.
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Origin of votary

1540–50; < Latin vōt(um) a vow + -ary

Synonyms

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3. buff, fan, admirer, devotee.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for votary

Historical Examples

  • Not lightly must that votary be proved, who fain would free a people.

    Alroy

    Benjamin Disraeli

  • Never was a votary endowed with a faith at once so lively and so capricious.

    Tancred

    Benjamin Disraeli

  • It pre-supposes in its votary a mind essentially mercantile.

    The Young Duke

    Benjamin Disraeli

  • Thus it was that she kept her oaths; thus she repaid her votary.

    The World's Desire

    H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang

  • “I, as well as you Americans, can be the votary of business,” answered Ram Juna.

    Jewel Weed

    Alice Ames Winter

British Dictionary definitions for votary

votary

noun plural -ries also: votarist
  1. RC Church Eastern Churches a person, such as a monk or nun, who has dedicated himself or herself to religion by taking vows
  2. a devoted adherent of a religion, cause, leader, pursuit, etc
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adjective
  1. ardently devoted to the services or worship of God, a deity, or a saint
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Derived Formsvotaress or votress, fem n

Word Origin

C16: from Latin vōtum a vow, from vovēre to vow
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 votary

n.

1540s, "one consecrated by a vow," from Latin votum (see vow). Originally "a monk or nun," general sense of "ardent devotee of some aim or pursuit" is from 1591 (in Shakespeare, originally in reference to love).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper