novitiate

Etymology

First recorded in 1517, the word was either borrowed from Middle French noviciat, novitiat, or comes from Medieval Latin noviciātus, novitiātus (“a novitiate”), formed from Latin novicius, novitius plus -ātus (see -ate (forming nouns denoting a rank or office)), itself from novus (“new”). Sense 1 is not found in cognate words.