le novice
novice
Definition & meaning
Novice means a beginner or someone with little experience in a particular activity or subject. It can be used as a noun or an adjective.
It can also refer to a person who has recently entered a religious order and is undergoing a period of training before taking vows.
Grammar & word origin
Novice is a noun of either grammatical gender: un novice for a man and une novice for a woman. The plural is novices. As an adjective, it has the same form for masculine and feminine, and takes -s in the plural.
The word comes from Latin novicius, meaning “new” or “recently arrived.” It is related to noviciat , the training period for a novice in a religious order.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonyms include:
- débutant — a beginner; a close equivalent, especially for learning a skill.
- néophyte — someone new to a field, group, or belief; often sounds more formal.
- inexpérimenté — inexperienced; emphasizes a lack of experience rather than being new to the activity.
- profane — a person without specialist knowledge; emphasizes unfamiliarity with a subject.
Antonyms include:
- expérimenté — experienced.
- chevronné — highly experienced, often through long practice.
- aguerri — seasoned or hardened through experience.
Common phrases & collocations
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Examples
Je suis novice en cuisine.adjective
I am a novice at cooking.
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