noun
neophyte
NEE-uh-fyte/ˈniːəfaɪt/
A person new to an activity or belief.
The pottery neophyte watches the teacher demonstrate how to shape a first bowl.
Etymology
The roots yield the image “newly planted,” applied to someone newly converted or initiated. That religious use broadened to anyone beginning a subject or activity.
In context
they came across an aged lama—but they called him a bonze—sitting cross-legged above a mysterious chart held down by stones, which he was explaining to a young man, evidently a neophyte
More examples
- The workshop welcomes neophytes as well as experienced photographers.
- A neophyte to the faith, she is learning its daily prayers.
- He is a skilled actor but a neophyte at directing.
Forms
neophyte · neophytes