Literary notes about Votary (AI summary)
The term “votary” in literature often denotes a person who shows deep, sometimes religious, devotion to a cause, ideal, or person, and is used in both sacred and secular contexts. Writers employ it to characterize a fervent disciple of a faith or way of life, as seen in its depiction of religious dedication ([1], [2], [3]) and its use to denote a digital devotee of art, intellect, or even pleasure ([4], [5], [6]). The word also appears in satirical and critical tones, highlighting excessive or self-important adherence to a particular fashion or ideology ([7], [8]). In each instance, “votary” conveys a strong sense of commitment, whether it is to spiritual pursuits, cultural endeavors, or personal passions ([9], [10], [11]).
- I took the veil; and never was the world quitted by so willing a votary as myself.
— from The Pacha of Many Tales by Frederick Marryat - Possibly she herself was originally a votary of Aten, which would account for the reverence with which her son, Amen-hetep IV, regarded that deity.
— from Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt by Lewis Spence - Thou hast insulted the Holy Mother; thou hast proposed infamy to her votary; thou hast denied thy Christian faith.
— from A Noble Queen: A Romance of Indian History (Volume 1 of 3) by Meadows Taylor - As he is a votary of music, he took me to hear Madame Pasta.
— from Recollections of Europe by James Fenimore Cooper - [F] Lord Gardenstone was himself a votary of the muses, though his verses are now forgotten.
— from The Poetical Works of James Beattie by James Beattie - The votary of pleasure, conscious of yesterday's void, wishes for power to arrest time's haste till a few more hours of mirth shall be enjoyed.
— from Our Nig; Or, Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-story White House, North
Showing That Slavery's Shadows Fall Even There by Harriet E. Wilson - What so unlike this idea as the fashionable votary, while she strangles and strains to get out of the superfine, creaseless kid cages?
— from Where Art Begins by Hume Nisbet - 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.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce - During these halcyon centuries, it is difficult to distinguish the follower of Moses from the votary of Mahomet.
— from Coningsby; Or, The New Generation by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield - 259 This serves them in place of armor and every other defence: it renders the votary of the goddess safe even in the midst of foes.
— from The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus by Cornelius Tacitus - Matthias had a mean opinion of Tarrant, thought him quite second-rate, a votary of played-out causes.
— from The Bostonians, Vol. I (of II) by Henry James