acolyte

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.ə.laɪt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.ə.laɪt/, (Canadian raising) [ˈæk.ə.lɐɪt]

  • Audio (California):

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈæk.ə.lɑet/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈɛk.ə.laɪt/, [ˈɛk.ə.lɑe̯t]

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.
   • 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic, Sydney: Horwitz Publications, page 27:

     The kneeling acolyte chimed a sacring-bell, and the congregation bent and swayed like a wheat-field swept scross by sudden wind.

3. An attendant, assistant, or follower.
   • 2024 October 31, Stephanie Amante-Ritter, “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel” (8:16 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks‎^[1], season 5, episode 3, spoken by Jack Ransom (Jerry O'Connell):

     “Apparently, one of Milius's acolytes spends a lot of time at the top of that huge, dangerous mountain. Better get climbing.” “(groans) Oh.”

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
• Dutch: acoliet (nl) m
• Esperanto: akolito
• Finnish: akolyytti (fi)
• French: acolyte (fr)
• German: Akolyth (de) m
• Greek: ακόλουθος (el) m (akólouthos)
• Hungarian: akolitus
• Indonesian: akolit
• Interlingua: acolyto
• Irish: acalaí m, túiseoir m
• Italian: accolito (it) m
• Macedonian: аколут m (akolut)
• Malay: akolit
• Polish: akolita (pl) m, akolitka f
• Portuguese: acólito (pt) m
• Spanish: acólito (es) m
• Tagalog: monasilyo, munisilyo, sakristan, akolito (tl)
• 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, acólito (es) m

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “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)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

acolyte m or f (plural acolytes)

1. (religion) acolyte
2. henchman, sidekick; partner in crime

Further reading

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