novice
/ˈnɑvɪs/noun, adjective
novice is spelled N-O-V-I-C-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, novice means “A beginner; one who is not very familiar or experienced in a particular subject” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of novice is novices.
How many letters and syllables are in novice?
| Letters | 6: N-O-V-I-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is novice?
Novice appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce novice?
- UK /ˈnɒvɪs/
- US /ˈnɑvɪs/
- Australia /ˈnɔvɪs/
Novice has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-novice.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Ajshul-novice.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of novice
- novices plural
- more novice comparative
- most novice superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does novice mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A beginner; one who is not very familiar or experienced in a particular subject.
I'm only a novice at coding, so my programs frequently have bugs that more experienced programmers would avoid.
- 2
A new member of a religious order accepted on a conditional basis, prior to confirmation.
Nor had it been difficult to find a Coptic priest who, together with his youthful novice, chanted the seemingly interminable Egyptian service of the dead […]
adjective
- 1
Of a beginner; unfamiliar or unexperienced in a particular subject.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Novice in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense new member of a religious order:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does novice come from?
From Middle English novice, novys, from Anglo-Norman novice, Middle French novice, itself borrowed from Latin novīcius, later novitius (“new, newly arrived”) (in Late Latin as a noun, masculine novicius, feminine novicia (“one who has newly entered a monastery or a convent”)), from novus (“new”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).