Difference between novice, newbie and rookie

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These words all can be used for a new comer or a biginner.So what's the difference? Are there any other words with the same meaning?TIA

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]These words all can be used for a new comer or a biginner. So what's the difference? Are there any other words with the same meaning? TIA [/nq]
"Rookie" is from baseball: a player in his first year of play. By extension, anybody in the first year or earliest stage of some field, especially athletics or a trade. The gullibility of rookies is a favorite subject in baseball lore.
"Novice" is from religion: someone who has entered a religious order but not taken final vows. By extension, anybody who has not yet learned the most basic elements of his field, an "abecedarian".

Sometimes "novice" is distinguished from "beginner": a beginner may already know something of the basics; a novice still needs to learn the basics.
"Newbie" is techspeak: a rookie or a novice in a technical field, especially someone who manifests awkwardness or cluelessness regarding a subject.

Chris Green

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]These words all can be used for a new comer or a biginner. So what's the difference? Are there any other words with the same meaning?[/nq]
The difference is of connotation, nor of meaning as such. "Rookie" is primarily used of new recruits in the armed services or police, "newbie" for those sending their first few postings to a newsgroup, or perhaps just starting to use a computer program or device."Novice" was originally used for someone living in a convent or monastery to discover whether he or she was suited to that kind of life, and who would hope to take final vows only after a long novitiate. It can now also mean someone entering upon a long-term period of work or study during which he or she will slowly become familiar with the range and depth of what is required. A rookie will very soon be a trained soldier, a newbie will quickly master the program or become accepted as a regular member of a newsgroup; but a novice will perhaps take many months or years before reaching any worthwhile degree of skill or knowledge in a craft or branch of learning.

Someone setting foot for the first time on a golf course will be a newbie, perhaps, for a few weeks; a year later he may still feel himself a novice.
Alan Jones

Difference between novice, newbie and rookie

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