novitiate

The story

1. Latin · derived fromnovicius, novitius
2. Medieval Latin · borrowed fromnoviciātus, novitiātus“a novitiate”
3. Middle French · borrowed fromnoviciat, novitiat
4. English todaynovitiate

First attested in 1517; either borrowed from Middle French noviciat, novitiat or from Medieval Latin noviciātus, novitiātus (“a novitiate”), from Latin novicius, novitius + -ātus (see -ate (forming nouns denoting a rank or office)), from novus (“new”). Sense 1 is not attested in cognates.