MONK
monk, monastic
(noun) a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work
Monk, Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Sphere Monk
(noun) United States jazz pianist who was one of the founders of the bebop style (1917-1982)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Proper noun
Monk (plural Monks)
A surname.
Statistics
• According to the 2010 United States Census, Monk is the 2964th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 12103 individuals. Monk is most common among White (78.42%) and Black/African American (15.81%) individuals.
Etymology 1
Noun
monk (plural monks)
A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
in earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
(slang) A male who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
(slang) An unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
(slang) A judge.
(printing) A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed; distinguished from a friar, or white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.
A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.
A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos.
The bullfinch, common bullfinch, European bullfinch, or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula).
The monkfish.
(historical) A fuse for firing mines.
Synonyms
• See also recluse
Verb
monk (third-person singular simple present monks, present participle monking, simple past and past participle monked)
To be a monk.
To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.
To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.
To be intoxicated or confused.
To be attached in a way that sticks out.
Etymology 2
By shortening.
Noun
monk (plural monks)
(colloquial) A monkey.
Source: Wiktionary
Monk, n. Etym: [AS. munuc, munec, munc, L. monachus, Gr. Monachism.]
1. A man who retires from the ordinary temporal concerns of the
world, and devotes himself to religion; one of a religious community
of men inhabiting a monastery, and bound by vows to a life of
chastity, obedience, and poverty. "A monk out of his cloister."
Chaucer.
Monks in some respects agree with regulars, as in the substantial
vows of religion; but in other respects monks and regulars differ;
for that regulars, vows excepted, are not tied up to so strict a rule
of life as monks are. Ayliffe.
2. (Print.)
Definition: A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink
not being properly distributed. It is distinguished from a friar, or
white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.
3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose
or train of a mine.
4. (Zoöl.)
(a) A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to
other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus.
(b) The European bullfinch. Monk bat (Zoöl.), a South American and
West Indian bat (Molossus nasutus); -- so called because the males
live in communities by themselves.
– Monk bird(Zoöl.), the friar bird.
– Monk seal (Zoöl.), a species of seal (Monachus albiventer)
inhabiting the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the adjacent
parts of the Atlantic.
– Monk's rhubarb (Bot.), a kind of dock; -- also called patience
(Rumex Patientia).
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition