freshman

Etymology

From fresh + man.

noun

1. (US, Canada, Philippines) A person (of either sex) entering the first year of an institution, especially a high school (ninth grade for US and Canada, grade 7 for Philippines), a university, or legislative body.
   At the time I was a wide-eyed freshman, but I was soon to grow jaded and cynical.
   When he was but yet a freshman in Cambridge. 1596, Thomas Nashe, Have with You to Saffron-Walden
   Sir Alexander: Then he's a graduate. Sir Davy: Say they trust him not? Sir Alexander: Then is he held a freshman and a sot,¶ And never shall commence, but being still barr'd¶ Be expuls'd from the master's side to th' twopenny ward,¶ Or else i' th' hole be plac'd. 1611, Thomas Middleton, The Roaring Girl, act 3, scene 3
   As a country, we now enter what the seven freshmen called “unchartered waters”, with an unprecedented political and constitutional crisis looming on the horizon. 2019-09-25, Geoffrey Kabaservice, “Impeach Trump? The United States is now in uncharted waters”, in The Guardian
   Trump may have played a role in swaying some holdouts — calling into a meeting of Republican freshmen the night before, and calling other members ahead of voting. January 7 2023, Lisa Mascaro, Farnoush Amiri, “McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote”, in AP News
2. (obsolete) A novice; one in the rudiments of knowledge.
   I am but a Freshman yet in France, therefore I can send you no News but that all is here quiet, and 'tis no ordinary News that the French should be quiet. 1619-08-06, James Howell, The Familiar Letters of James Howell, volume 1, published 1892, Letter XIII, page 39