novato

See also: Novato

Latin

Participle

novātō

1. dative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of novātus

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *nu

Proto-Indo-European *néwos

Proto-Italic *nowos

Latin novus

Old Spanish nuevo

Spanish nuevo

Spanish -ato

Spanish novatobor.

Portuguese novato

Borrowed from Spanish novato (“beginner”). By surface analysis, novo +‎ -ato.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /noˈva.tu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /nuˈva.tu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /nuˈva.tu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /nuˈba.tu/ [nuˈβa.tu]

• Rhymes: -atu
• Hyphenation: no‧va‧to

Noun

novato m (plural novatos, feminine novata, feminine plural novatas)

1. beginner; newbie (new (inexperienced) user or participant)

   Synonyms: aprendiz, calouro, galucho, iniciante, noob, noviço, principiante

   Antonym: veterano

Adjective

novato (feminine novata, masculine plural novatos, feminine plural novatas)

1. inexperienced

   Synonyms: imaturo, imperito, inexperiente, ingênuo, principiante

   Antonyms: experiente, veterano

Related terms

• novel
• novo

Further reading

• “novato”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “novato”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “novato”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *nu

Proto-Indo-European *néwos

Proto-Italic *nowos

Latin novus

Old Spanish nuevo

Spanish nuevo

Spanish -ato

Spanish novato

From nuevo (“new”) + -ato.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /noˈbato/ [noˈβ̞a.t̪o]
• Rhymes: -ato
• Syllabification: no‧va‧to

Adjective

novato (feminine novata, masculine plural novatos, feminine plural novatas)

1. newbie

Noun

novato m (plural novatos, feminine novata, feminine plural novatas)

1. beginner, newbie, rookie, novice

   Synonym: principiante

   Antonym: veterano

   • 2022 October 9, Manuel Viejo, Elisa Silió, “El difícil camino para que no se repitan los gritos del Ahuja: “Sois unas pedazo de mierdas. ¡Putas!””, in El País‎^[1]:

     Los colegiales de primero del Mendel, el centro mixto contiguo al Ahuja con el que hay pique, celebran que no ha habido novatadas, sino planes conjuntos durante dos semanas entre veteranos y novatos, pero siguen vivos ritos cuestionables.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• novatada

Related terms

• novedad

Descendants

• → Portuguese: novato

Further reading

• “novato”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025