A novice monk holding fewer vows than a fully ordained monk (dge slong, Skt. bhikṣu). [WOMPT, 1998]

An intermediate ordination between lay followers who take the four basic vows and fully ordained monks and nuns. Although this level of ordination may serve as a novitiate until the ordinee is ready or old enough to take full ordination, it is incorrect to refer to shramaneras as novices because some shramaneras remain so all their lives without passing to higher ordination. This is the case with most nuns in Tibet, where the lineage for fully ordained nuns has been lost and full female ordination is only possible by taking the bhikshuni vows in another country whose lineage has continued unbroken. [TLWF, 2011][NS]

The first stage in the monastic ordination implying the observance of certain precepts. The vows of śrāmaṇera or getsul are sometimes referred to in English as novice vows. This is incorrect. The term "novice" in this context has been mistakenly borrowed from Christian monasticism where it denotes a monk in training prior to profession or the taking of vows. The novitiate is necessarily
a temporary condition (usually lasting between one and two years). In Buddhism, by contrast, the śrāmaṇera or getsul ordination embodies a complete monastic grade in itself, and many monks keep this ordination throughout their lives. Moreover, given that the lineage of bhikshuni or gelongma vows has been interrupted (and may never have existed) in Tibet, the vast majority of Tibetan Buddhist nuns are permanent getsulmas. [TPQ, 2010]

The first stage in monastic ordination. Shramaneras do not observe all the precepts of fully ordained bhikshus or bhikshunis, but it is incorrect to refer to them as “novices” in that many of them remain shramaneras throughout their lives without necessarily progressing to full ordination. [NLF, 2005] [GWPT, 2004]