acolyte
UK/ˈæk.ə.laɪt//ˈæk.ə.laɪt/
acolyte noun: 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.
Noun
acolyte (plural acolytes)
- 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.
- An altar server.
- The kneeling acolyte chimed a sacring-bell, and the congregation bent and swayed like a wheat-field swept scross by sudden wind.1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 27
- An attendant, assistant, or follower.
- “Apparently, one of Milius's acolytes spends a lot of time at the top of that huge, dangerous mountain. Better get climbing.” “(groans) Oh.”2024 October 31, Stephanie Amante-Ritter, “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel” (8:16 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 5, episode 3, spoken by Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell)
- Synonyms:
- sidekick
- A devoted follower, fan, especially an overly eager one, following blindly.
acolyte meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Tagalog
acolyte in Tamil
- திருக்கோயில் ஏவலர்
acolyte in Urdu
- کمک, معاون
acolyte in Malayalam
- അനുയായി, സഹായി, പുതിയ ആൾ
acolyte in Tagalog
- Catholic church: highest of the minor orders; ordained to carry wine, water and lights at the Mass
- monasilyo, munisilyo, sakristan, akolito
More languagesFewer languages
- acolyte in Malay
- akolit
- acolyte in Indonesian
- akolit
- acolyte in Vietnamese
- chú giúp lễ
Synonyms of acolyte
Forms of acolyte
| plural | acolytes |
|---|
Origin of acolyte
From Middle English acolite, acolit, from Old French acolyt and Late Latin acolythus, from Ancient Greek ἀκόλουθος (akólouthos, “follower, attendant”).
Words formed from acolyte
Questions about acolyte
- What does acolyte mean?
- Acolyte means 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.
- What is acolyte in Tamil?
- Acolyte in Tamil is திருக்கோயில் ஏவலர். See Acolyte meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is acolyte?
- Acolyte is a noun.
- How do you pronounce acolyte?
- Acolyte is pronounced /ˈæk.ə.laɪt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of acolyte?
- The plural of acolyte is acolytes.
Words near acolyte in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: acolyte (page history and authors); acolyte (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acolyte (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acolyte (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-acolyte.ogg.
Cite this entry: “acolyte.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acolyte. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.