Monastery

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Monastery \Mon"as*te*ry\, n.; pl. {Monasteries}. [L.
     monasterium, Gr. ?, fr. ? a solitary, a monk, fr. ? to be
     alone, live in solitude, fr. mo`nos 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.


     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Convent; abbey; priory. See {Cloister}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  monastery
       n : the residence of a religious community