novitiate
/nə(ʊ)ˈvɪʃɪət
/ /nə(ʊ)ˈvɪeɪt/(also noviciate)
noun
1The period or state of being a novice, especially in a religious order.Even in the golden days of my novitiate, such places were few and far between....
- This ceremony also signaled the beginning of her novitiate - a year-long ‘trial’ period in which she lived among the convent community, observing its rules and strictures.
- The convent countered that those sums had been for the year of her novitiate, but that her formal profession involved a new set of expenses.
Synonyms
probationary period, probation, trial period, test period, apprenticeship, training period, traineeship, training, initiation
1.1A novice, especially in a religious order.Now Wats are inhabited by monks, teachers, nuns, novitiates, school children, street-side sellers and tourists....
- Once the ceremony was over, the novitiates, priestesses and nuns gathered together in the great hall beneath the statue of Auset for a feast.
- There are teachers, nuns, novitiates, school children, street vendors and even tourists.
Synonyms
novice, neophyte;
postulant, proselyte, catechumen
1.2A place housing religious novices.There Was an Ancient House presents a disillusioned view of life in a Jesuit novitiate....
- He entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at the age of 15.
- He entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at the age of 15.
Origin
Early 17th century: from ecclesiastical Latin noviciatus, from Latin novicius 'new' (see novice).