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

Derived terms

• acolytate
• acolyteship
• Macolyte

 

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
• Turkish: rahip yardımcısı
• 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)
• Macedonian: по́мошник m (pómošnik)
• 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 (2001–2024) “acolyte”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• cotylae

French

Alternative forms

• acolythe (obsolete)

Etymology

Inherited 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.