padawan
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈpædəˌwɒn/
enpr: pădʹə-wän'
ipa: /ˈpædəˌwɑn/
Forms: form: padawans
form: Padawan
Etymology: Coined by American filmmaker George Lucas as early as 1973 (in the manuscript Journal of the Whills, where it was spelled padawaan), but not used in his Star Wars film franchise until Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace which premiered on 16 May 1999.
Senses: examples: text: Just as Plato requires a training program that combines physical and mental skills, so does Yoda. The training you'll receive will probably be similar to the training young Luke Skywalker receives from Yoda, since you're probably nearer his age than younger padawans. Throughout his training, Luke questions Yoda about good and evil, the Force, and other concepts important to a Jedi. Likewise, Plato's Republic features a question-and-answer interplay between teacher and students as Socrates's "padawans" question him about justice and injustice, the nature of the Good, and the ideal government.
ref: 2005, Judith Barad, “The Aspiring Jedi’s Handbook of Virtue”, in Kevin S. Decker, Jason T. Eberl, editors, Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (Popular Culture and Philosophy; 12), Chicago, Ill.: Open Court Publishing Company, →ISBN:
text: Like, practically every day in third grade, Auggie and I would hang out together on FaceChat. We had decided to grow our Padawan braids before I moved away, so it was a great way to check how long they had gotten.
ref: 2015, R. J. Palacio, “FaceChat”, in Pluto: A Wonder Story, New York, N.Y.: Knopf Books for Young Readers, →ISBN:
text: Her underlings flanked her, like Padawans studying beneath some great Jedi.
ref: 2017, Marnie Riches, Born Bad, London: Avon, →ISBN:
glosses: An apprentice or student Jedi.
examples: text: It is impossible for you to create this application using only the techniques you learned in the first two chapters, so read on young padawan!
ref: 2001, Joseph P. Russell, Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner (For the Absolute Beginner series), Roseville, Calif.: Prima Tech, →ISBN, page 57:
text: The root of your problem is just that, young padawan. Hmmm?
ref: 2005 November, Tom [Thomas A.] Limoncelli, “Automation”, in Mike Loukides, David Brickner, editors, Time Management for System Administrator, Sebastopol, Calif.: O'Reilly Media, →ISBN, page 160:
text: A long, long time ago in a church far, far away, as a padawan youth pastor, I had a utopian view of what it'd be like to work in youth ministry. When I began my first youth ministry job, I half expected we'd sing "Kum-Bah-Yah" when we closed our staff meetings.
ref: 2009, Len Evans, “When You’re Fired”, in Tim Baker, editor, The Youth Worker Book of Hope: True Stories of Brokenness and Healing (Youth Specialities), Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, →ISBN, page 71:
text: The off-season brought quarterback turnover, with Kurt Warner retiring and stalwarts like Donovan McNabb and Jake Delhomme changing teams. These veterans were not replaced by veterans or free agents, but by homegrown understudies, throwbacks to the days when Craig Morton spent four seasons behind Don Meredith in (depending on your point of view) apprenticeship or indentured servitude. The first of the padawan has already flopped. Matt Leinart appears to have once again returned a gift-wrapped starting job in Arizona.
ref: 2010 September 5, Mike Tanier, “The Fifth Down; new trends, new season”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 20 Jan 2018:
glosses: Any apprentice or student.