neophytes

Noun

neophyte (plural neophytes)

1. A beginner; a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief.
   • 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...1927, M[ohandas] K[aramchand] Gandhi, chapter XVII, in Mahadev Desai, transl., The Story of My Experiments with Truth: Translated from the Original in Gujarati, volume I, Ahmedabad, Gujarat...

   Synonyms:

   beginner, newbie, newcomer, starter, novice, rookie, tyro, abecedarian, alphabetarian, apprentice

   Antonyms:

   expert, veteran, master

2. A novice (recent convert); a new convert or proselyte; a new monk.
   • The neophyte was given a new name in place of the baptismal one, usually of an evil and revolting character, and this was written in blood in the Devil's book, the covers of which were bound in the skin of unbaptised infants.1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 107

   Synonyms:

   novice, proselyte, initiate

3. Among the early Christians, and still among the Roman Catholics, one who has recently embraced the Christian faith, and been admitted to baptism, especially those converts from heathenism or Judaism.
4. A plant species recently introduced to an area (in contrast to archaeophyte, a long-established introduced species).

   Antonyms:

   archaeophyte