From Middle English nonne, nunne, from Old English nunne, from Late Latin nonna, originally (along with masculine form nonnus ("man")) a term of address for elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana, like papa etc.

• enPR: nŭn, IPA: /nʌn/
• (North England, Ireland) IPA: /nʊn/

nun (plural nuns)

1. A member of a Christian religious community of women who live by certain vows and usually wear a habit, (Roman Catholicism, specifically) those living together in a cloister.

   Synonyms: sister, moniale, sistren, cloistress

   Antonyms: brother, friar, monk, frater

2. (by extension) A member of a similar female community in other confessions.

   a Buddhist nun

3. (archaic, British, slang) A prostitute.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:prostitute

   • 1770, Samuel Foote, The Lame Lover, a Comedy in Three Acts. […], London: […] Paul Vaillant; and sold by P[eter] Elmsly […]; and Robinson and Roberts, […], →OCLC ↗, Act I, page 12 ↗:

     Why laſt night, as Colonel Kill'em, Sir William Weezy, Lord Frederick Foretop, and I were careleſsly ſliding the Ranelagh round, picking our teeth, after a damn'd muzzy dinner at Boodle's, who ſhould trip by but an abbeſs, well known about town, with a ſmart little nun in her ſuite.

4. A kind of pigeon with the feathers on its head like the hood of a nun.

• (member of a religious community) nonnus
• (prostitute) abbess, abbot, Covent Garden nun

• French: nonne, religieuse, bonne sœur, moniale, nonnain
• German: Nonne, Ordensschwester, Klosterschwester, Schwester
• Italian: suora, monaca
• Portuguese: freira, religiosa, madre, monja
• Russian: мона́хиня
• Spanish: monja, religiosa

• Italian: monaca

Borrowed from the letter’s name in the respective language.

• enPR: nŏŏn, IPA: /nʊn/ or enPR: no͞on, IPA: /nuːn/

nun (plural nuns)

1. The fourteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).

• French: noun, nun
• Russian: нун
• Spanish: nun

1. Pronunciation spelling of nothing

From .

1. (very, rare) A male given name
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Deuteronomy 34:9 ↗:
     :

     And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses.

1. The languages of the Bamun people of western Cameroon.