monastery

Where does the word "monastery" come from? It comes from Greek monazein, and was adopted directly into English (1400s).

Monastery’s story begins in Greek: monazein meant “to live alone.” To live alone, from monos (alone). It reached English by 1400s as monastery. Settled as the English word for a residence for a religious community. Today, monastery means a building housing a community of monks or nuns living under religious vows.

1. Stage 1 · Greek · ancient monazein "to live alone", to live alone, from monos (alone).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1400s monastery "a residence for a community of monks or nuns", settled as the English word for a residence for a religious community.