As an Ancient Greek neophyte, I have often contemplated the value in learning Ancient Greek. I have always been someone who is enamored by words, and learning about Ancient Greek and its presence in the English language has been a major takeaway for me. More than 150,000 English words have their roots in Greek, and one of them, hardly newly planted, is the word “neophyte”, which has existed in the English dictionary since the 1300s. Neophyte, coming from the Greek word νεόφυτος (newly planted) which is made up of the words νέος, meaning new and φυτόν meaning plant or child, has many meanings in the English language. Its botanical definition can refer to a “plant species recently introduced to an area”, while its religious definition can refer to “a new convert”. Additionally, it is also a “name given by the early Christians, and still given by the Roman Catholics, to those who have recently embraced the Christian faith, and been admitted to baptism”. Its modern definition refers to a beginner or a “person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief”. The word νεόφυτος first emerges in the works of Aristophanes and retains its botanical definition until the Septuagint during the 1st century BCE. The religious connotation is used in I Timothy and is adopted by Christian Latin authors as neophytus. The modern connotation of the word first appears in Ben Jonson’s play Every Man out of His Humor during 1600.
The many different usages and contexts of this word reveal the transformative nature of words as humans and culture change and evolve. The future for neophyte contains many possibilities of what “newly planted” can be interpreted as. Personally, neophyte is a word that encapsulates the hope and joy of being new to a subject, skill, belief, or environment (literally and figuratively) and the possibility of progress and growth. The word “neophyte” itself has gone through many transformations starting as a newly introduced word in Greek, then in Christian churches, and made its way into the English language. During that time, this word has sunken its roots into our culture and branched out into many languages and usages. Learning about the journey of neophyte has helped me understand that we all once were and still are neophytes, newly introduced into this world, trying our best to grow and develop into ourselves. Our journey is not over yet, and neither is neophyte’s.

Bibliography:
● Online Etymology Dictionary etymonline.com/search?q=neophyte
● Wiktionary
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/neophyte#:~:text=Etymology,%E2%80%9Cplant%2C%20child
%E2%80%9D).
● Dictionary.com
dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/neophyte-2021-06-25/#:~:text=Neophyte%20
%E2%80%9Ca%20beginner%20or%20novice,of%20the%20Athenian%20comic%20dramatist

● Perseus Tufts
perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0058:entry=neo/futos
&highlight=neophyte
● Merriam-Webster merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neophyte#h1