Priory

2 definitions found

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

  Priory \Pri"o*ry\, n.; pl. {Priories}. [Cf. LL. prioria. See
     {Prior}, n.]
     A religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; --
     sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and
     called also {cell}, and {obedience}. See {Cell}, 2.
     [1913 Webster]


  
     Note: Of such houses there were two sorts: one where the
           prior was chosen by the inmates, and governed as
           independently as an abbot in an abbey; the other where
           the priory was subordinate to an abbey, and the prior
           was placed or displaced at the will of the abbot.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {Alien priory}, a small religious house dependent on a large
        monastery in some other country.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: See {Cloister}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  priory
       n : religious residence in a monastery governed by a prior or a
           convent governed by a prioress