Adjacent Words

Monastery definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MON'ASTERY,n. [Low L. monasterium; Gr. from sole, separate.]
A house of religious retirement, or of seclusion from ordinary temporal concerns, whether an abbey, a priory or a nunnery. The word is usually applied to the houses of monks, mendicant friars and nuns.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the residence of a religious community

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -teries) Etymology: Middle English monasterie, from Late Latin monasterium, from Late Greek monast?rion, from Greek, hermit's cell, from monazein to live alone, from monos single — more at monk Date: 15th century a house for persons under religious vows; especially an establishment for monks

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) the residence of a religious community, esp. of monks living in seclusion. Etymology: ME f. eccl.L monasterium f. eccl.Gk monasterion f. monazo live alone f. monos alone

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Monastery Mon"as*te*ry, n.; pl. Monasteries. [L. monasterium, Gr. ?, fr. ? a solitary, a monk, fr. ? to be alone, live in solitude, fr. ? alone. Cf. Minister.] A house of religious retirement, or of secusion from ordinary temporal concerns, especially for monks; -- more rarely applied to such a house for females. Syn: Convent; abbey; priory. See Cloister.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(monasteries) A monastery is a building or collection of buildings in which monks live. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Convent, cloister, abbey, priory, nunnery.