noun

• A person about to be initiated.

  ‘Boys were frequently dressed as girls in such contexts; child-priests may originate in initiation rituals; and the death of the youths in the sanctuary is reminiscent of the common mythology of initiation, in which the initiands die.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘During this ambiguous period, the common attributes of initiands are stressed, originating a peculiar social bond that Turner calls communitas.’
  • ‘The ritual dissolution of normal social forms, as initiands are ritually refashioned, allows for a juggling of the normal factors of existence, a freeing of creative potential.’
  • ‘On physical return the initiands find that they are different, they do not see things the same way they once did.’
  • ‘A more sinister reading also presents itself: given that this is an induction into a cult, the initiated may be preparing to program or reprogram the initiand.’