priory
/ˈprʌɪəri
/noun (plural priories)
A small monastery or nunnery that is governed by a prior or prioress.Others included walks from Iona to Holy Island, Canterbury to York, and around the monasteries, abbeys and priories of Yorkshire....
- Amongst monasteries a priory was generally a smaller foundation than an abbey and was in many cases a monastery of monks subordinate to an abbey.
- St. Gobban, around the close of the 6th century founded the first of the Christian churches here, a priory for the Canons regular.
Synonyms
religious house, religious community, abbey, cloister;
monastery, friary;
convent, nunnery
rare coenobium, coenoby, beguinage
Origin
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French priorie, medieval Latin prioria, from Latin prior 'elder, superior' (see prior2).