monks

Noun

monk (plural monks)

1. A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
   • This is believed to be the completeſt liſt of this voluminous, proſaick, and driveling monk, that can be formed, without acceſs, at leaſt, to every manuſcript library in the kingdom, which would be very difficult, if not imposſible, to obtain.1802, Joseph Ritson, “Poets of the Fifteenth Century”, in Bibliographia Poetica
2. In earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
   • Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, while in the case of monk and crusader there must have been a sustaining purpose, and possibly a great abnegation, a leaving of lands and...1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC
3. (slang) Someone who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
4. (slang) An unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
5. (slang) A judge.
6. (archaic) An inkblot.

See all 17 meanings of monk