monastery

American  

[mon-uh-ster-ee] / ˈmɒn əˌstɛr i /

noun

plural

monasteries

1. a house or place of residence occupied by a community of persons, especially monks, living in seclusion under religious vows.

   Synonyms:

   lamasery, friary, priory, abbey, cloister

2. the community of persons living in such a place.

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monastery British  

/ ˌmɒnəˈstɪərɪəl, ˈmɒnəstərɪ, -strɪ /

noun

1. the residence of a religious community, esp of monks, living in seclusion from secular society and bound by religious vows

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Other Word Forms

• monasterial adjective

Etymology

Origin of monastery

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin monastērium, from Late Greek monastḗrion “monk house,” originally, “hermit's cell,” equivalent to monas-, variant stem of monázein “to be alone” + -tērion neuter adjective suffix denoting place; mono-

Example Sentences

Looming over the colorless town is its hulking circa-1385 monastery, extended in convent courtyards and stately chapels with lofty naves, offering dazzling displays of stained glass.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Some of the buildings at the Thahtay Kyaung monastery, where saffron-clad monks cleared rubble from the wreckage by hand in the days after the quake, have been razed.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

The monastery was founded in 1956, when a group of four monks arrived from Massachusetts to set up their new order on the property.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

At this site, about one third of individuals buried in lower status areas had tuberculosis, compared with 12% of those buried in the monastery or church.

From Science Daily • Mar. 13, 2026

Finally, I said, “At the monastery, we used to have two phoenix birds.”

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri