novice

nov·ice

noun \ˈnä-vəs\

Definition of NOVICE

1

: a person admitted to probationary membership in a religious community

2

: beginner, tyro

Examples of NOVICE

1. He's a novice in cooking.
2. a book for the novice chess player
3. Novices serve time as scullery serfs as they work toward the privilege of trailing a pastry chef … —Guy Trebay, New York Times, 4 Sept. 2002
4. For the novice, walking the course also means being scared senseless by all the possibilities to screw up. —Tim Keown, ESPN, 17 Sept. 2001
5. Yet it's obvious to him and everyone else who the novice is here, the book-learned tournament virgin. —James McManus, Harper's, December 2000
6. Much defter than one would have thought possible from the length of her fingernails, Toula had no fear of high fast notes; her flair, mounted between Andrea's perfectionist reserve and Alice's novice awkwardness, seemed all too displayed. —John Updike, The Afterlife, 1994

Origin of NOVICE

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin novicius, from Latin, newly imported, from novus — more at new

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to NOVICE

Synonyms: abecedarian, apprentice, babe, colt, cub, fledgling, freshman, greenhorn, neophyte, newbie, newcomer, beginner, novitiate, punk, recruit, rook, rookie, tenderfoot, tyro, virgin

Antonyms: old hand, old-timer, vet, veteran

Related Words: boot; amateur, dabbler, dilettante; learner, student, trainee; candidate, entrant, probationer

Near Antonyms: expert, master, pro, professional

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