Added 9 October 2026
monastery
/ˈmɒnəstɹi/ noun
In Latin: monastērium, monastēriolum Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about monastery at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
Origin
From Middle English monasterie, from Old French monastere, from Medieval Latin monastērium (“monastery”), from Ancient Greek μοναστήριον (monastḗrion, “hermitage, monastery”), from μοναστήριος (monastḗrios, “alone, made alone”) + -ιον (-ion, “-ium”, suffix forming place names), from μονάζω (monázō, “to be alone”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone”) + -άζω (-ázō, verb-forming suffix). Doublet of minster.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)