monk

Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

monk

(mŭngk)

A man who is a member of a brotherhood living in a monastery and devoted to a discipline prescribed by his order: a Carthusian monk; a Buddhist monk.

[Middle English monek, monk, from Old English munuc, from Late Latin monachus, from Late Greek monakhos, from Greek, single, from monos; see men- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

monk

(mʌŋk)

1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a male member of a religious community bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

2. (Breeds) (sometimes capital) a fancy pigeon having a bald pate and often large feathered feet

[Old English munuc, from Late Latin monachus, from Late Greek: solitary (man), from Greek monos alone]

Monk

(mʌŋk)

1. (Biography) Thelonious (Sphere) (θəˈləʊnɪəs). 1920–82, US jazz pianist and composer

2. (Biography) a variant spelling of (George) Monck

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

monk

(mʌŋk)

n.

a man who is a member of a religious order, usu. living in a monastery according to a particular rule and under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

[before 900; Old English munuc < Late Latin < Late Greek monachós; Greek: solitary =món(os) alone + -achos adj. suffix]

Monk

(mʌŋk)

n.

1. Thelonious (Sphere), 1917–1982, U.S. jazz pianist and composer.

2. George, Monck, George.

monk

ascetic - Pronounced uh-SET-ik, it is derived from Greek asketes, "monk, hermit."
dean - Comes from Latin decanum, "chief of a group of ten," and Greek dekanos, "a monk or dignitary in charge of ten others."
nun - Derived from Latin nonna, the feminine of nonnus, "monk," originally a title given to an elderly person.
monk, friar - A monk stays in a monastery; a friar does not.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	monk - a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work monastic Brother - (Roman Catholic Church) a title given to a monk and used as form of address; "a Benedictine Brother" Carthusian - a member of the Carthusian order religious - a member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience Cistercian, Trappist - member of an order of monks noted for austerity and a vow of silence
	2.	Monk - United States jazz pianist who was one of the founders of the bebop style (1917-1982) Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Sphere Monk

monk

noun (Loosely) friar, brother, religious, novice, monastic, oblate saffron-robed Buddhist monks

Related words
adjective monastic

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

رَاهِبٌراهِب

mnich

munk

Mönch Bruder

καλόγερος μοναχός

monje

munk

munkki

moine religieux

redovnik

szerzetesbarátbarát2

munkur

monaco frate celibe

修道士

수도승

monachus

vienuolis

mūks

călugăr

mních

menih

munk

พระ

keşiş rahip

монах

thầy tu

修道士僧侣和尚

monk

[mʌŋk] N → monje m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

monk

[ˈmʌŋk] n → moine m

monk

n → Mönch m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

monk

[mʌŋk] n → frate m, monaco

monk

(maŋk) noun

a member of a male religious group, who lives in a monastery, away from the rest of society.

monk

→ رَاهِبٌ mnich munk Mönch καλόγερος monje munkki moine redovnik monaco 修道士 수도승 monnik munk mnich monge монах munk พระ keşiş thầy tu 和尚

References in classic literature ?

Either help me to gain the nearest village or swear to me on your salvation that you will send me the first monk, the first cure, the first priest you may meet.

Monk or priest, it matters not, provided only that he has received from holy church the power of absolving in articulo mortis."

View in context

"But he will have to deal with Monk, who is quite as dangerous.

-- I believe, with respect to Monk, ties one to nothing -- I believe that he has a strong inclination to succeed Cromwell.

View in context

Even a monk might have loved them as choice masterpieces of his Maker's hand.

'The monk answered not, save by a grave inclination of the head, and the sisters pursued their task in silence.

View in context

She made him at once give up the life of a servant which he had been leading, and bade him become a monk. Caedmon gladly did her bidding, and when he had been received among them, his brother monks taught to him all the Bible stories.

But Caedmon could neither read nor write, nor is it at all likely that he ever learned to do either even after he became a monk, for we are told that "he was well advanced in years" before his great gift of song came to him.

View in context

I asked the good-natured monk who accompanied us, who did this?

There are nerves and muscles in our frames whose functions and whose methods of working it seems a sort of sacrilege to describe by cold physiological names and surgical technicalities, and the monk's talk suggested to me something of this kind.

View in context

Bumble, who had eyed the building with very rueful looks, was apparently about to express some doubts relative to the advisability of proceeding any further with the enterprise just then, when he was prevented by the appearance of Monks: w ho opened a small door, near which they stood, and beckoned them inwards.

View in context

He knew the present temper of the people, that those of the greatest interest and power were by no means pleased with the changes of religion, and only waited for a fair opportunity to revolt; and that these discontents were everywhere heightened by the monks and clergy.