• IPA: /mʌŋk/

From Middle English monk, from Old English munuc, from Proto-West Germanic *munik, from Late Latin monicus, variant of monachus, from Ancient Greek μοναχός, from μόνος ("alone").

monk (plural monks)

1. A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
2. In earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
   • 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC ↗:

     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 possessions.”

3. (slang) A male 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. (printing, archaic) An inkblot.
7. A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos.
8. The bullfinch, common bullfinch, European bullfinch, or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula).
9. The monkfish.
10. (historical) A fuse for firing mines.

• See also Thesaurus:recluse

• monastery
• monastic
• monasticism

• French: moine
• German: Mönch
• Italian: monaco, frate
• Portuguese: monge
• Russian: мона́х
• Spanish: monje

• Italian: celibe

monk (monks, present participle monking; simple past and past participle monked)

1. To be a monk.
2. To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.
3. To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.
4. To be intoxicated or confused.
5. To be attached in a way that sticks out.

By shortening.

monk (plural monks)

1. (colloquial) A monkey.

1. Surname.