Words / B2

MON-uh-stree/ˈmɒnəstri/

A monastery is a building where monks live as a community: monastery ruins; a medieval monastery. Abbey may be larger or have a church; convent / nunnery is for nuns. Not a parish church on the site map. Mix-up: monarchy is royal rule (already elsewhere); minister is a politician. Do not call a cathedral a monastery unless monks lived there.

Meaning

A building where monks live and work as a community.

Examples

• “The ruins are a monastery, not a parish church, on the site map.”
• “Dissolution of the monasteries featured in the history paper, which is the Tudor sense.”

Good to know

a monastery; monastic (adjective). Resident: monk. Contrast: parish church / convent. Trap: monarchy. History and RS. Monks’ house, not a kingship.

New