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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Under Macron’s presidency, which began in 2017 after his surprise victory as a 39-year-old political novice, France has sought to reclaim its place as a global center of culture.—Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 9 Oct. 2024 The appeal of visiting them will be obvious to serious ornithologists, but even novice bird-watchers or anyone who simply loves spending time in the great outdoors will appreciate these bird hot spots.—David Escribano, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Oct. 2024 After doing 10 Hannah Swensen movies, Sweeney fancies herself somewhat of a novice detective like her character.—Dana Rose Falcone, People.com, 4 Oct. 2024 In 2023, Creel performed an autobiographical show, Walk on Through, about falling in love with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, billing himself as a museum novice who learned to love art.—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2024 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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