''votary'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260904152658-00-⌔

votary - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Adjective

votary (comparative more votary, superlative most votary)

• Consecrated by a vow or promise; consequent on a vow; devoted; promised.
  • ✤ And votary Reſolution is made Equipollent to Cuſtome¹

Noun

votary (plural votaries)

• A person, such as a monk or nun, who lives a religious life according to vows they have made.
• A devotee of a particular religion or cult.
• A devout or zealous worshipper.
• (by extension) Someone who is devoted to a particular pursuit etc.
  • ✤ Synonyms: enthusiast; see also Thesaurus: enthusiast
  • ✤ But it is not ſimply of the progreſs of luxury that we have to complain: did its votaries keep in their own ſphere of thoughtleſs diſſipation, we might deſpiſe them without emotion; but the frivolous purſuits of pleaſure are mingled with the moſt important concerns of the ſtate;²
  • ✤ The room was commonly emptied after that, or only left in possession of a very few and persevering votaries of pleasure.³
  • ✤ He is such a votary of the modern that he was inevitably interested in the girl of the future and had matched one reform with another, being ready to marry without a penny, as the clearest way of expressing his appreciation, this favourable specimen of the type.⁴
  • ✤ The indulgence of illicit pleasures, says Dr. S. Pancoast, sooner or later is sure to entail the most loathsome diseases on their votaries.⁵
  • ✤ Gerty was dressed simply but with the instinctive taste of a votary of Dame Fashion for she felt that there was just a might that he might be out.⁶
• A loyal supporter or devoted admirer of a person or institution.
  • ✤ Well then, ye who delight in laughter, ye who are votaries of the proverb, “Laugh and grow Fat;“⁷

Etymology

From Latin votus, past participle of vovere (“to vow, to devote”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

• (UK) IPA: /ˈvəʊt(ə)ri/
• (US) IPA: /ˈvoʊdəri/

Noun

• (UK) IPA: /ˈvəʊtəri/
• (US) IPA: /ˈvoʊdəri/
• Audio (Southern England): 🔊

Printed 2026-09-04.

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Footnotes

1. 1625, Francis[Bacon], “Of Custom and Education”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC, page 232: ↩

2. 1771, [Henry Mackenzie], The Man of Feeling, 2nd edition, London: Printed for T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, page 79: ↩

3. 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter XXXI, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849, →OCLC, page 304: ↩

4. 1893, Henry James, “Collaboration”, in The Wheel of Time; Collaboration; Owen Wingrave, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers publishers, →OCLC, page 109: ↩

5. 1920, B. G. Jefferis, J. L. Nichols, “Sexual Proprieties and Improprieties”, in Searchlights on Health ‎${}^{[1]}$: ↩

6. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 13]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II[Odyssey], page 335: ↩

7. 1847, editorial staff, “The Yankee Blade”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 66: ↩