acolyte

From Middle English acolite or acolit, borrowed from Old French acolyt and Late Latin acolythus, which came from Ancient Greek ἀκόλουθος (akólouthos), meaning 'follower' or 'attendant'.

The word's core sense — someone who accompanies and attends another — has stayed remarkably intact from Greek through Latin, French, and into English.

Its closest tie is to the Greek akólouthos itself, the 'follower' at the root of the whole chain; no other English cognate is given in the record.