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Definition of "monastery" []

  • A community of persons, especially monks, bound by vows to a religious life and often living in partial or complete seclusion. (noun)
  • The dwelling place of such a community. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "monastery" in a sentence
  • "Originally the term monastery designated, both in the East and in the West, the dwelling either of a solitary or of a community; while caenobium, congregatio, fraternitas, asceterion, etc. were applied solely to the houses of communities."
  • ""The film does not depict a monastery, but it transforms itself into a monastery, because a monastery is a place where, through the rhythm of time, which is very strict, and through [the monks '] confinement, the spiritual space is opened up for them.""
  • "You may think that living in a monastery is a sweet life."