Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A monastery supervised by an abbot.
- noun A convent supervised by an abbess.
- noun A church that is or once was part of a monastery or convent.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A monastery or convent of persons of either sex devoted to religion and celibacy, and governed by an abbot or abbess (which see).
- noun The buildings of a monastery or convent; sometimes, in particular, the house set apart for the residence of the abbot or abbess.
- noun A church now or formerly attached to a monastery or convent: as, Westminster Abbey.
- noun In Scotland, the sanctuary formerly afforded by the abbey of Holyrood Palace, as having been a royal residence.
- noun A name sometimes given to the white poplar, Populus alba.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A monastery or society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic building or buildings.
- noun The church of a monastery.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun capitalized In London, the Abbey is short for
Westminster Abbey, and in Scotland, theprecincts of the Abbey ofHolyrood .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a convent ruled by an abbess
- noun a church associated with a monastery or convent
- noun a monastery ruled by an abbot
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Item, the said abbot hath alienate and sold the jewels and plate of the monastery, to the value of five hundred marks, _to purchase of the Bishop of Rome his bulls to be a bishop, and to annex the said abbey to his bishopric, to that intent that he should not for his misdeeds be punished, or deprived from his said abbey_.
Short Studies on Great Subjects James Anthony Froude 1856
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The abbey is inhabited by women but overseen by men.
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In truth, the popular misapprehension on this subject has not been occasioned by any obscurity in the colophons of the great printer, or in the survey of Stow, but merely by the erroneous constricted sense into which the word abbey has passed in this country.
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The abbey was a sanctuary, but only a temporary one.
Sick Cycle Carousel 2010
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You climb & climb & suddenly you emerge at Roncevalles I have to say that I found it as inhospitable as 30 years ago—there are a couple of restaurants, church of Saint James & the old abbey, which is now turned over for lodging pilgrims.
Archive 2009-11-22 Bas Bleu 2009
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You climb & climb & suddenly you emerge at Roncevalles I have to say that I found it as inhospitable as 30 years ago—there are a couple of restaurants, church of Saint James & the old abbey, which is now turned over for lodging pilgrims.
Pilgrims' pass Bas Bleu 2009
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Records are sketchy and no specific maps exist of the era when the abbey was a flourishing community.
Darley Abbey 2008
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This was never going to be an easy matter to resolve, and it says much about the universal respect in which she was held by those on both sides of the argument that her abbey was the venue chosen.
Archive 2007-05-01 2007
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The 54-year-old said: We chose a medieval theme because the abbey is a historical site, and we wanted to complement that.
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The 54-year-old said: We chose a medieval theme because the abbey is a historical site, and we wanted to complement that.
Archive 2007-09-01 2007
mikeropology commented on the word abbey
A loanword from Ancient Syria (Syriac language).
January 31, 2008