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  1. acolyte love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. One who assists the celebrant in the performance of liturgical rites.
  2. n. A devoted follower or attendant.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. One who waits on a person; an attendant; an assistant.
  2. n. In the Roman Catholic Church, one ordained to the fourth and highest of the minor orders, ranking immediately below the subdeacon. See orders. His office is to serve those of the superior orders in the ministry of the altar, light the candles, prepare the wine and water, etc. The name is now commonly extended to the boys who exercise these offices without ordination.
  3. n. In astronomy, an attendant or accompanying star or other heavenly body; a satellite.
  4. n. Sometimes written acolyth, and formerly also acholithite, acolythe, acolythist, acolothist.

Wiktionary

  1. n. ecclesiastical One who has received the highest of the four minor orders in the Catholic Church, being ordained to carry the wine, water and lights at Mass.
  2. n. An attendant, assistant or follower.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. (Eccl.) One who has received the highest of the four minor orders in the Catholic church, being ordained to carry the wine and water and the lights at the Mass.
  2. n. One who attends; an assistant.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. someone who assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service; a cleric ordained in the highest of the minor orders in the Roman Catholic Church but not in the Anglican Church or the Eastern Orthodox Churches

Etymologies

  1. From Late Latin acolythus, acoluthus, from Ancient Greek ἀκόλουθος ("follower, attendant"): compare French acolyte (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English acolit, from Old French, from Medieval Latin acolytus, from Greek akolouthos, attendant; see anacoluthon. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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‘acolyte’ has been looked up 2737 times, loved by 8 people, added to 62 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 12.