Noun

(en noun)

A beginner; one who is not very familiar or experienced in a particular subject.

I'm only a novice at coding, and my programs frequently have bugs that more experienced programmers wouldn't make.

(senseid)(religion) A new member of a religious order accepted on a conditional basis, prior to confirmation.

* 1983 , (Lawrence Durrell), Sebastian , Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), page 1137:

Nor had it been difficult to find a Coptic priest who, together with his youthful novice , chanted the seemingly interminable Egyptian service of the dead [...].

Noun

(en noun)

(uncountable) The state of being a child.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author= Terrie Moffitt] [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/richie-poulton et] [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/avshalom-caspi al.

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Lifelong Impact of Early Self-Control , passage=To our own surprise, our 40-year study of 1,000 children revealed that childhood self-control strongly predicts adult success, in people of high or low intelligence, in rich or poor, and does so throughout the entire population, with a step change in health, wealth, and social success at every level of self-control.}}

The time during which one is a child, from between infancy and puberty.

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=Foreword citation , passage=He stood transfixed before the unaccustomed view of London at night time, a vast panorama which reminded him […] of some wood engravings far off and magical, in a printshop in his childhood .}}

(by extension) The early stages of development of something.

* Shakespeare

the childhood of our joy