monastic

UK/məˈnæstɪk/US/məˈnæstɪk/

adjectiveC2Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,208 of 15,258mostly written

Monastic means to do with monks, or plain and self-denying in style. Monastic life, a monastic cell, monastic simplicity.

The figurative use is common and usually admiring, so a monastic routine means one stripped of everything unnecessary. The Greek behind it means living alone, which is where monk comes from too.

Definitions of monastic

1adjectivemonasticTo do with monks, or plain and self-denying in style.C2
“The monastic life of prayer and silence did not suit him.”

monastic is a quality.

Where it comes from

Greek monastikos means living alone, from monos, alone.

Proto-Indo-European
*men- (small)
Latin
monasticus
Middle French
monastique
English, today
monastic

From Middle French monastique, from Latin monasticus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

monastic in the wild

By Greek law and by religious tradition, women are prohibited from entering the area governed by the monastic community.
Mount Athos
Wealthy monastic houses had many granges, most of which were largely agricultural providing food for the monastic community.
Monastic grange
Most members of military orders were laymen who took religious vows, such as of poverty, chastity, and obedience, according to monastic ideals.
Military order (religious society)
In the monastic tradition of all schools of Buddhism, the Vinaya expounds the vows of the fully ordained Nuns and Monks.
Religious vows
The following is a list of the monastic houses in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
List of monastic houses in the East Riding of Yorkshire

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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