Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A nun.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete A nun.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English minchen, monchen, from Old English myneċen ("a female monk, nun"), from Proto-Germanic *munikinnō (“female monk”), from *munikaz (“monk”), from Late Latin monachus ("monk"), from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monachós, "hermit", noun), from μοναχός (monachós, "single, solitary", adjective), from μόνος (mónos, "alone"), from Proto-Indo-European *men-, *menw-, *manw- (“small, little, isolated”). Cognate with German Mönchin ("female monk"). Related also to minnow. More at monk.

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