Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The period of being a novice.
- noun A place where novices live.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Inexperienced; unpractised.
- noun The state or time of being a novice; time of initiation; apprenticeship.
- noun Specifically The period of probation of a young monk or nun before finally taking the monastic vows. See
novice , 2. - noun A novice or probationer.
- noun The house or separate building, in connection with a convent, in which the novices pass their time of probation.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state of being a novice; time of initiation or instruction in rudiments.
- noun The time of probation in a religious house before taking the vows.
- noun One who is going through a novitiate, or period of probation; a novice.
- noun rare The place where novices live or are trained.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the
period during which anovice of areligious order undergoestraining - noun the
place where a novice lives and studies - noun a novice
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the period during which you are a novice (especially in a religious order)
- noun someone who has entered a religious order but has not taken final vows
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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All were nobles, trained in the profession of arms, and this period – which might be described as a novitiate – was the crucible in which the specific spirituality of the Templars gradually took shape.
Archive 2009-03-01 Lu 2009
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And then we see that the Maytag novitiate is in the back room with a cell phone, foiled in his attempt to get the box of Cheez-Its.
CROSSOVER OF THE WEEK (THIS WEEK, REALLY!) Toby O'B 2005
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Attached to the novitiate are a teacher's seminary and practice school.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 5: Diocese-Fathers of Mercy 1840-1916 1913
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The first occupants of the novitiate were the founder himself, his first associate, Father La Vavasseur, and a sub-deacon, M. Collin.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 9: Laprade-Mass Liturgy 1840-1916 1913
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The latter, though obliged to respect the prerogatives of the novice-master, remains the real immediate superior of the novices, and outside that part of the house which is called the novitiate, the direction of the entire community belongs exclusively to him.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 11: New Mexico-Philip 1840-1916 1913
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The novitiate is a very unique, very privileged time of a sister's monastic life.
MONIALES OP 2009
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In our monastery the novitiate is the brighest, most beautiful part of the house with the best view!
MONIALES OP 2009
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Canon law stipulates that the novitiate should be a separate house or area.
MONIALES OP 2009
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"You are speaking, I suppose, of some rule of life, some kind of novitiate to which you had to submit yourself," said Mr. Harland --
The Life Everlasting; a reality of romance Marie Corelli 1889
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He had always wished to be a Jesuit, and, after a novitiate which is described as most edifying, he became a professed member of the Order.
The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century Francis Parkman 1858
duckbill commented on the word novitiate
he had been deeply initiated into what is called the world, while I was yet in my novitiate
April 21, 2011