Novice, n.
Etymology: [F., from L. novicius, novitius, new, from novus new. See New, and cf. Novitious.]
1. One who is new in any business, profession, or calling; one unacquainted or unskilled; one yet in the rudiments; a beginner; a tyro. I am young; a novice in the trade. Dryden.
2. One newly received into the church, or one newly converted to the Christian faith. 1 Tim. iii. 6.
3. (Eccl.)
One who enters a religious house, whether of monks or nuns, as a probationist. Shipley. No poore cloisterer, nor no novys. Chaucer.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Novice, a.
Like a novice; becoming a novice. [Obs.]
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for novice; he lists it under amateur.
Where he writes about it:
A novice or tyro may be a professional; an amateur never is; the amateur may be skilled and experienced as the novice or tyro never is. — from amateur
Antonyms
none given