cenobite

American  

[see-nuh-bahyt, sen-uh-] / ˈsi nəˌbaɪt, ˈsɛn ə- /

Or coenobite

noun

1. a member of a religious order living in a convent or community.

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cenobite British  

/ ˈsiːnəʊˌbaɪt /

noun

1. a variant spelling of coenobite

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Other Word Forms

• cenobian adjective
• cenobitic adjective
• cenobitical adjective
• cenobitically adverb
• cenobitism noun

Etymology

Origin of cenobite

1630–40; < Late Latin coenobīta, equivalent to coenob- (< Greek koinóbios (adj.) conventual, living together, equivalent to koino- ceno- ² + bi- bi- ² + -os adj. suffix) + -īta -ite ¹

Example Sentences

There, in Camaldoli, Romuald built a monastery, "and by several observances he added to St. Benedict's rule, gave birth to a new Order, in which he united the cenobite and eremetical life."

From Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa With Sixteen Illustrations In Colour By William Parkinson And Sixteen Other Illustrations, Second Edition by Hutton, Edward

And my soul is a sepulchre where I, Ill cenobite, have spent eternity: On the vile cloister walls no pictures rise.

From The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles Baudelaire with an Introductory Preface by James Huneker by Baudelaire, Charles

About the close of the fourth century the cenobite system was introduced into Europe, and in an astonishingly short space of time spread throughout all the western countries where Christianity had gained a foothold.

From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Myers, Philip Van Ness

Thinner, much older, his long, spidery arms, almost colorless blond hair and eroded features gave him the air of a cenobite who had escaped from some Scandinavian wilderness into life.

From Melomaniacs by Huneker, James

The cenobite gave him a grim smile, but merely added his benedicite and passed on.

From Agincourt The Works of G. P. R. James, Volume XX by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)