votary
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈvoʊtəri/
- Literature
:
devoto
- It has been an interesting effort, an interesting lifelong effort, although we must sadly note that he has failed to leave behind the magnificent literary monuments of which, in the dear bright days of tested youth, he dreamed. He can nevertheless count himself among the ranks of the distinguished, simply in having been a votary, even if not wholly competent, of a humane and transcendent ideal.
As far as mental hospital goes, I, I, you know, I used to be a, a, a votary for shut them down.
- As far as mental hospital goes, I, I, you know, I used to be a, a, a votary for shut them down.
Examples
-
Votaries of the UN have long argued that if the world body did not exist, we would have to invent it.
Academic text (2003) -
Knowledge, which had in the earlier college been a means to larger moral and spiritual ends, has now become the end of education; the young are to be trained to become votaries of knowledge, and what Gilman and his allies primarily meant by that was the knowledge of scientific rationalism.
Academic text (1993) -
As far as mental hospital goes, I, I, you know, I used to be a, a, a votary for shut them down.
-
These votaries of the devil, hypothetically present here in the form of powerful nudes, once were angels.
Academic text (1999) -
The persons concerned in it were taking their pleasure quietly, and they were not of the sex that is supposed to furnish the regular votaries of the ceremony I have mentioned.
Fiction book (1996) -
The primary criticism I will be making on this occasion can be directed not only at Justice Scalia but also at his critics: both he and most of them are votaries one way or another of contemporary social science.
Academic text (1999) -
Sir Nathaniel, this berowne is one of the votaries with the king, and here he hath framed a letter...
-
The votaries of Hindutva (modern Hindu nationalism) will celebrate the death of Hinduism.
Blog text (19) -
The general design of the following sheets is to enlist imagination under the banner of science and to lead her votaries from the looser analogies, which dress out the imagery of poetry, to the stricter ones, which form the ratiocination of philosophy.
Academic text (1993) -
The votaries of environmental protection gather every month to discuss their efforts to combat climate change.
Synonyms
38
8.1
A person who supports a cause very strongly and refuses to change
25
6.0
A person who strongly likes and follows someone or something
A person who spends a lot of time and energy on a cause or person
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
Semantically related to being devoted by 'vow' with the productive suffix '-ary', but the phonological/orthographic shift to 'vot-' and figurative extension to secular devotion reduce immediacy.
Etymology
Votary comes from the Latin votum, meaning 'vow' or 'prayer', and by extension it came to mean anyone very devoted to something. That's why a votary of a cause or art is like someone who shows strong, almost religious, loyalty to that thing.