Definition of ACOLYTE (original) (raw)
1
: a person who assists a member of the clergy in a liturgical service by performing minor duties
2
a
: a person who attends or assists a leader
The mayor and some acolytes dined at their usual spot.
b
… he studied acting with … an acolyte of the famed acting teacher …—
Evelyn Theiss
c
For acolytes of the craze, such high-brow bottles are worth the hefty price.—BostonGlobe.com
… consistently sells out arenas … and inspires a generation of young acolytes …—The Northland Age (New Zealand)
Did you know?
Follow the etymological path of acolyte back far enough and you'll arrive at kéleuthos, a Greek noun that means "path" and that is itself the parent of akólouthos, an adjective that means "following." Akólouthos traveled from Greek, leaving offspring in Medieval Latin and Anglo-French; its English descendant, acolyte, emerged in the 14th century. Originally, acolyte was exclusively a term for a person who assisted a priest at Mass, but by the 19th century, the word had acquired additional meanings, among them "attendant body, satellite" (a meaning used in astronomy) and "attendant insect" (a zoological sense), as well as the general meaning "assistant" or "sidekick."
Word History
Etymology
Middle English acolite, borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French acolit, borrowed from Medieval Latin acolūthus, acolythus, acolitus, going back to Late Latin, "person assisting the priest," borrowed from Middle Greek akólouthos, going back to Greek, "following, (as noun) follower, attendant," from a- (variant, before a following aspirate consonant, of ha- "having one, having the same," going back to Indo-European *sm̥-, akin to Greek heîs "one," homós "same") + -kolouthos (ablaut form, in a compound, of kéleuthos "path," of uncertain origin) — more at same entry 1
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of acolyte was in the 14th century