Etymograph

English

novitiate

Novitiate may come from Latin novicius ‘new, fresh’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *nu ‘now’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nu1‘now’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néwos1‘new’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nowos1‘new’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnovus1‘fresh, young’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnovicius2as novicius‘new, fresh’uncertain
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600noviciat2uncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1831novitiate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin novicius
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English novitiate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “Three weeks after the departure of the Mandevilles, all…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*nuWiktionary, Latin novicius‘now’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*néwosWiktionary, Latin novicius‘new’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*nowosWiktionary, Latin novicius‘new’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnovusWiktionary, Latin novicius‘fresh, young’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnoviciusWiktionary, English novitiateas novicius‘new, fresh’uncertain
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600noviciatWiktionary, English novitiateuncertain
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1831novitiateWiktionary, English novitiate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1831, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley: “Three weeks after the departure of the Mandevilles, all…”

first attested First attested in 1517 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1517; either borrowed from Middle French noviciat, novitiat or from Medieval Latin noviciātus, novitiātus (‘a novitiate’), from Latin novicius, novitius + -ātus (see -ate (forming nouns denoting a rank or office)), from novus (‘new’). Sense 1 is not attested in cognates.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *nu ‘now’

noo, 11 more

through Proto-Indo-European *néwos ‘new’

new, newly, newer, innovation, neon, renovation, newness, innovator, innovate, renovate, 10 more

through Proto-Italic *nowos ‘new’

telenovela, novation, 6 more

through Latin novus ‘fresh, young’

novel, nova, nuevo, 8 more

through Latin novicius ‘new, fresh’

novice

Today it means

noun A novice.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “novitiate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin novicius. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *nu / novitiate

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