1. (religion) the period during which you are a novice, especially in a religious order
   "She spent her novitiate learning the rules and traditions of the convent";
   - noviciate
    
2. Someone who has entered a religious order but has not taken final vows
   "The novitiate spent a year in contemplation before deciding to take her final vows";
   - novice

Derived forms: novitiates

Type of: period, period of time, religious person, time period, time span

Encyclopedia: Novitiate