acolyte

acolyte

English

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Old French acolyt and Late Latin acolythus, from Ancient Greek ἀκόλουθος (akólouthos, “follower, attendant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæ.kə.laɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

acolyte (plural acolytes)

1. (Christianity) One who has received the highest of the four minor orders in the Catholic Church, being ordained to carry the wine, water and lights at Mass.
2. (Christianity) An altar server.
3. An attendant, assistant or follower.

Synonyms

(assistant): sidekick

Translations

Catholic church: highest of the minor orders; ordained to carry wine, water and lights at the Mass

Catalan: acòlit (ca) m Esperanto: akolito Finnish: akolyytti French: acolyte (fr) German: Akolyth (de) m Greek: ακόλουθος (el) m (akólouthos) Hungarian: akolitus Interlingua: acolyto Irish: acalaí m, túiseoir m Italian: accolito (it) m Polish: akolita (pl) m, akolitka f Portuguese: acólito (pt) m Spanish: acólito (es) m Tagalog: monasilyo, munisilyo Vietnamese: chú giúp lễ

in general: assistant

Dutch: helper (nl) Finnish: apulainen (fi), avustaja (fi), apuri (fi) French: acolyte (fr) m or f German: Gehilfe (de) m Greek: βοηθός (el) m (voïthós) Norwegian: assistent (no) m Polish: akolita (pl) m, akolitka f Portuguese: acólito (pt) m, assistente (pt) m or f, ajudante (pt) m or f Spanish: ayudante (es) m or f

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “acolyte”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• cotylae

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French

Alternative forms

• acolythe (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French acolyt, from Ecclesiastical Latin acolytus, from Ancient Greek ἀκόλουθος (akólouthos, “follower, attendant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.kɔ.lit/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

acolyte m (plural acolytes)

1. (religion) acolyte
2. henchman, sidekick

Further reading

• “acolyte”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.