Cistercian
/sɪsˈtɜː(ɹ)ʃən/
Cistercian noun: a member of a monastic order which follows the Benedictine rule and emphasizes silent contemplative prayer.
Noun
Cistercian (plural Cistercians)
- A member of a monastic order which follows the Benedictine rule and emphasizes silent contemplative prayer.
- Synonyms:
- white monk
Adjective
Cistercian (comparative more Cistercian, superlative most Cistercian)
- Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Cistercian Order and its members.
- At some unknown point during the twelfth century the problem of waking up at night at the right time to ring the bell was solved, because, in a new version of the Rule for Cistercian monks, it says that the sacrist 'roused by the sound of the clock shall ring the church bell'.1978, James Burke, Connections, Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, pages 128-129
Synonyms of Cistercian
- white monk
Forms of Cistercian
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | Cistercians |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more Cistercian |
| superlative | most Cistercian |
Origin of Cistercian
From French cistercien, from Latin Cistercium (“Cîteaux”), after the place where the order was founded.
Questions about Cistercian
- What does Cistercian mean?
- Cistercian means a member of a monastic order which follows the Benedictine rule and emphasizes silent contemplative prayer.
- What part of speech is Cistercian?
- Cistercian can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce Cistercian?
- Cistercian is pronounced /sɪsˈtɜː(ɹ)ʃən/.
- What is the plural of Cistercian?
- The plural of Cistercian is Cistercians.
Words near Cistercian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Cistercian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “Cistercian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cistercian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
