acolyte

noun

ac·o·lyte ˈa-kə-ˌlīt

-kō-

Synonyms of acolyte next

: one who assists a member of the clergy in a liturgical service by performing minor duties

: one who attends or assists a leader : follower

The mayor dined with a few of his acolytes.

Did you know?

Follow the etymological path of acolyte back far enough and you'll arrive at kéleuthos, a Greek noun that means "path" and that is itself the parent of akólouthos, an adjective that means "following." Akólouthos traveled from Greek, leaving offspring in Medieval Latin and Anglo-French; its English descendant, acolyte, emerged in the 14th century. Originally, acolyte was exclusively a term for a person who assisted a priest at Mass, but by the 19th century, the word had acquired additional meanings, among them "attendant body, satellite" (a meaning used in astronomy) and "attendant insect" (a zoological sense), as well as the general meaning "assistant" or "sidekick."

Examples of acolyte in a Sentence

a popular professor dining with a few of her acolytes a highly influential economist whose acolytes can be found at many major universities

Recent Examples on the Web

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Nevertheless, Hazen and Wong seem to be gaining acolytes in other fields. —

Paul Voosen, science.org, 1 Nov. 2024 Lila activates her own acolyte by locking eyes with Antonio. —

Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 21 Oct. 2024 Brat Summer would never have died, but its most grateful acolytes would never have lived. —

Pitchfork, 1 Oct. 2024 Over the next thirty years, Nasrallah and his acolytes systemically dismantled and subsumed the sovereign Lebanese government, with even no President since 2022, and wrought havoc on the Lebanese people with little support from the population. —

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, TIME, 29 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for acolyte

Word History

Etymology

Middle English acolite, borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French acolit, borrowed from Medieval Latin acolūthus, acolythus, acolitus, going back to Late Latin, "person assisting the priest," borrowed from Middle Greek akólouthos, going back to Greek, "following, (as noun) follower, attendant," from a- (variant, before a following aspirate consonant, of ha- "having one, having the same," going back to Indo-European *sm̥-, akin to Greek heîs "one," homós "same") + -kolouthos (ablaut form, in a compound, of kéleuthos "path," of uncertain origin) — more at same entry 1 — more at same entry 1