different between neophyte vs probie

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin neophytus, from Ancient Greek ???????? (neóphutos, “newly planted”), from ???? (néos, “new”) + ????? (phutón, “plant, child”). Surface analysis is neo- +? -phyte.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?ni.??fa?t/

Noun

neophyte (plural neophytes)

1. A beginner; a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief.

   Synonyms: beginner, newbie, newcomer, starter

   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xvii:

     A convert's enthusiasm for his new religion is greater than that of a person who is born in it. Vegetarianism was then a new cult in England, and likewise for me, because, as we have seen, I had gone there a convinced meat-eater, and was intellectually converted to vegetarianism later. Full of the neophyte's zeal for vegetarianism, I decided to start a vegetarian club in my locality, Bayswater. I invited Sir Edwin Arnold, who lived there, to be Vice-President. Dr. Oldfield who was Editor of the The Vegetarian became President. I myself became the Secretary. The club went well for a while, but came to an end in the course of a few months. For I left the locality, according to my custom of moving from place to place periodically. But this brief and modest experience gave me some little training in organizing and conducting institutions.
2. A novice (recent convert); a new convert or proselyte; a new monk.

   Synonym: novice

3. (Christianity) A name given by the early Christians, and still given by the Roman Catholics, to those who have recently embraced the Christian faith, and been admitted to baptism, especially those converts from heathenism or Judaism.

   Synonym: catechumen

4. (botany) A plant species recently introduced to an area (in contrast to archaeophyte, a long-established introduced species).

   Antonym: archaeophyte

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:beginner

Translations

References

• Random House Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1987.

Further reading

• Neophyte on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Neophyte in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• hypnotee, phytoene

Latin

Adjective

neophyte

1. vocative masculine singular of neophytus

English

Etymology

probationary +? -ie

Noun

probie (plural probies)

1. (slang) Someone holding a position on a probationary basis, subject to performance or examination.
2. (slang, firefighting) A neophyte firefighter.
   • 1997. Steve Delson. "The Fire Inside: Firefighters Talk About Their Lives", Page 41

     A probie never complains. A probie keeps his mouth shut, his eyes open. A probie is never idle. A probie is always learning or drilling or cleaning. That's why you're still called a probie: for one year after you leave training school.