votary
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈvoʊtəri/
- Literature
:
devoto
- He has been a lifelong votary of meditation, dedicating hours each day to his spiritual practice.
Examples
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"It's an exercise in faith, like lighting a votary candle." "Adrian?" Frances said.
Fiction book (2000) -
Who are the votaries, my loving maids, that are vow-fellows with this virtuous Duke?
-
But it is hard to know what import to attach to the views on these topics when the understanding of what the Church is or teaches among many of these votaries is so tenuous.
Blog text (23) -
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Blog text (14) -
How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Blog text (14) -
As a dedicated votary, she attended every service and participated in all the rituals of her faith.
-
The votary placed their offerings at the altar, demonstrating unwavering devotion to the deity.
Synonyms
38
2.3
A person who strongly believes in a faith and follows its ways
25
6.0
A person who strongly likes and follows someone or something
19
3.2
A person who goes to a place like a church to show respect to someone they think is holy
5
8.4
A person who strongly follows and practices a religion
1
9.3
A person who belongs to a religious order and lives by vows
Antonyms
33
7.1
A person who says bad things about someone or something to make them seem less good
How Devoted
Surface Forms
Morphology
votary = vow (semi-transparent) = vot + ary
Formed from the idea of a 'vow' plus the agentive/relational suffix '-ary', but the stem appears as 'vot-' (form change) and the word is relatively low-frequency, so the relation is only partly obvious to learners.
Etymology
Votary comes from the Latin votum, which means 'vow' or 'prayer', and it first named someone who had made a religious promise. So a votary is a person devoted to a religion or spiritual life, often living under vows.