votary

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: vo=ta=ry

CIDE DICTIONARY

votary, a. [From L. votus, p. p. vovere to vow, to devote. See Vote, Vow.].

 Consecrated by a vow or promise; consequent on a vow; devoted; promised.  [1913 Webster]
"Votary resolution is made equipollent to custom."  [1913 Webster]

votary, n. 

 One devoted, consecrated, or engaged by a vow or promise; hence, especially, one devoted, given, or addicted, to some particular service, worship, study, or state of life.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
"'T was coldness of the votary, not the prayer, that was in fault."  [1913 Webster]
"But thou, my votary, weepest thou?"  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

votary, n. (pl. -ies; fem. votaress) (usu. foll. by of)
1 a person vowed to the service of God or a god or cult.
2 a devoted follower, adherent, or advocate of a person, system, occupation, etc.

Derivative

votarist n.

Etymology

L vot-: see VOTE

THESAURUS

votary

Christian, God-fearing man, Maecenas, abettor, accepter, addict, adherent, admirer, adorer, advocate, aficionado, amateur, angel, apologist, appendage, aspirant, aspirer, attendant, backer, beadsman, believer, booster, buff, candidate, catechumen, cavaliere servente, celebrant, champion, chapelgoer, churchgoer, churchite, churchman, collector, communicant, congregation, convert, courtier, coveter, creature, daily communicant, dangler, defender, dependence, dependent, desirer, devotee, devotionalist, dilettante, disciple, dummy, encourager, endorser, evangelist, exponent, fan, fanatic, fancier, favorer, figurehead, flunky, follower, following, freak, friend at court, gillie, good Christian, goon, groupie, habitue, hanger-on, hankerer, henchman, homme de cour, hopeful, hound, idolater, idolizer, jackal, lackey, lover, mainstay, maintainer, man, minion, myrmidon, neophyte, paranymph, parasite, partisan, patron, petitioner, pietist, prayer, promoter, proselyte, protagonist, public, puppet, pursuer, pursuivant, receiver, reliance, religionist, revivalist, rooter, saint, satellite, second, seconder, sectary, shadow, sider, solicitant, sponsor, stalwart, standby, stooge, successor, suitor, suppliant, supplicant, supplicator, support, supporter, sustainer, sycophant, sympathizer, tagtail, tail, theist, thug, trainbearer, truster, upholder, venerator, wanter, ward heeler, well-wisher, wisher, worshiper, yearner, zealot

ROGET THESAURUS

votary

Auxiliary

N auxiliary, recruit, assistant, adjuvant, adjutant, ayudante, coaid, adjunct, help, helper, help mate, helping hand, midwife, colleague, partner, mate, confrere, cooperator, coadjutor, coadjutrix, collaborator, ally, friend, confidant, fidus Achates, pal, buddy, alter ego, confederate, accomplice, complice, accessory, accessory after the fact, particeps criminis, socius criminis, aide-de-camp, secretary, clerk, associate, marshal, right-hand, right-hand man, Friday, girl Friday, man Friday, gopher, gofer, candle- holder, bottle-holder, handmaid, servant, puppet, cat's-paw, jackal, tool, dupe, stooge, ame damnee, satellite, adherent, votary, sectarian, secretary, seconder, backer, upholder, abettor, advocate, partisan, champion, patron, friend at court, mediator, angel (theater, entertainment), friend in need, Jack at a pinch, deus ex machina, guardian angel, tutelary genius.

Desire

N desire, wish, fancy, fantasy, want, need, exigency, mind, inclination, leaning, bent, animus, partiality, penchant, predilection, propensity, willingness, liking, love, fondness, relish, longing, hankering, inkling, solicitude, anxiety, yearning, coveting, aspiration, ambition, vaulting ambition, eagerness, zeal, ardor, empressement, breathless impatience, overanxiety, impetuosity, appetite, appetition, appetence, appetency, sharp appetite, keenness, hunger, stomach, twist, thirst, thirstiness, drouth, mouthwatering, itch, itching, prurience, cacoethes, cupidity, lust, concupiscence, edge of appetite, edge of hunger, torment of Tantalus, sweet tooth, lickerish tooth, itching palm, longing eye, wistful eye, sheep's eye, greed, voracity, passion, rage, furore, mania, manie, inextinguishable desire, dipsomania, kleptomania, lover, amateur, votary, devotee, aspirant, solicitant, candidate, applicant, supplicant, cormorant, desideratum, want, a consummation devoutly to be wished, attraction, magnet, allurement, fancy, temptation, seduction, fascination, prestige, height of one's ambition, idol, whim, whimsy, whimsey, maggot, hobby, hobby-horse, Fortunatus's cap, wishing cap, wishing stone, wishing well, desirous, desiring, inclined, partial to, fain, wishful, optative, anxious, wistful, curious, at a loss for, sedulous, solicitous, craving, hungry, sharp-set, peckish, ravening, with an empty stomach, esurient, lickerish, thirsty, athirst, parched with thirst, pinched with hunger, famished, dry, drouthy, hungry as a hunter, hungry as a hawk, hungry as a horse, hungry as a church mouse, hungry as a bear, greedy, unsatisfied, unsated, unslaked, unsaturated, eager, avid, keen, burning, fervent, ardent, agog, all agog, breathless, impatient, bent on, intent on, set on, bent upon, intent upon, set upon, mad after, enrage, rabid, dying for, devoured by desire, aspiring, ambitious, vaulting, skyaspiring, high-reaching, desirable, desired, in demand, pleasing, appetizing, appetible, tantalizing, wistfully, fain, Int, would that, would that it were!, O for!, esto perpetual, the wish being father to the thought, sua cuique voluptas, hoc erat in votis, the mouth watering, the fingers itching, aut Caesar aut nullus, Cassius has a lean and hungry look, hungry as the grave, I was born to other things, not what we wish but what we want, such joy ambition finds, the sea hath bounds but deep desire hath none, ubi mel ibi apes.