Among the ancient Romans, a novice (novicius) was usually a newly enslaved person, who had to be trained in his or her duties. Among Catholics and Buddhists, if you desire to become a priest, monk, or nun, you must serve as a novice for a period of time, often a year (called your novitiate), before being ordained or fully professing your vows. No matter what kind of novice you are—at computers, at writing, at politics, etc.—you've got a lot to learn.
Novices serve time as scullery serfs as they work toward the privilege of trailing a pastry chef …—Guy Trebay, New York Times, 4 Sept. 2002For the novice, walking the course also means being scared senseless by all the possibilities to screw up.—Tim Keown, ESPN, 17 Sept. 2001Yet it's obvious to him and everyone else who the novice is here, the book-learned tournament virgin.—James McManus, Harper's, December 2000Much 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
He's a novice in cooking.
a book for the novice chess player
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Well, the moon-planet-star trio are among the brightest objects in our solar system, meaning the impending conjunction should be incredibly easy to spot for even the most novice of amateur astronomers.—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 15 Sep. 2025 While the glory days have come and gone — and come and gone again — for Florida, most still see him as the king for a Gators program that was once just a novice to the national stage.—Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 Sep. 2025 For seasoned cooks and kitchen novices, cookbook author and nutritionist Robin Miller takes it back to basics with great, family-friendly recipes worth making over and over again.—Robin Miller, AZCentral.com, 11 Sep. 2025 Based on a true story, the plot follows the aristocratic Von Trapp family as former convent novice Maria (played by Julie Andrews), shows up to be governess and changes their lives.—Marla Jo Fisher, Oc Register, 11 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for novice
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, "probationer in a religious community" (continental Old French also, "inexperienced person"), borrowed from Late Latin novīcius, going back to Latin, "newly enslaved person, person recently entered into a condition," as adjective, "newly imported, recently discovered, fashionable," from novus "new" + -īcius-itious — more at new entry 1
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