nun
/nʌn
/noun
1A member of a religious community of women, typically one living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.A Jesuit uncle, then chaplain to the Seattle community of Carmelite nuns, made an emergency appeal for prayers....
- During the 500's, Saint Benedict of Nursia established monasteries where monks and nuns lived in separate communities.
- True, in Roman Catholicism there are whole communities of monks and nuns who intercede every day for those who do not have the desire or the capacity to pray for themselves.
Synonyms
sister, novice, abbess, prioress, Mother Superior, Reverend Mother;
bride of Christ, religious, conventual, contemplative;
Roman Catholic Church canoness
literary vestal
historical anchoress
rare vowess
2Any of a number of birds whose plumage resembles a nun’s habit, especially an Asian mannikin.
2.1A pigeon of a breed with a crest on its neck.
Derivatives
nunhood
nunlike
- Many of the men wore white skullcaps and long white robes, dishdashas, and the women were either scarved and covered or in the full abaya, a black nunlike garb.
- A square window in a stark white door slides open, framing a nurse in a white room wearing a white nunlike getup.
nunnish
nunhood
Origin
Old English nonne, from ecclesiastical Latin nonna, feminine of nonnus 'monk', reinforced by Old French nonne.