Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
nun
(noun) the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
nun
(noun) a woman religious
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Nun
(very, rare) A male given name from Hebrew
Nun
The languages of the Bamun people of western Cameroon.
nun (plural nuns)
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
Antonyms: brother, friar, monk, frater
(by extension) A member of a similar female community in other confessions.
(archaic, British, slang) A prostitute.
Synonym: Thesaurus:prostitute
A kind of pigeon with the feathers on its head like the hood of a nun.
In Roman Catholicism, a distinction is often drawn (especially by members of female religious orders) between nuns and sisters, the former being cloistered and devoted primarily to prayer, the latter being more active, doing work such as operating hospitals, caring for the poor, or teaching.
Borrowed from the letter’s name in the respective language.
nun (plural nuns)
The fourteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).
Source: Wiktionary
Nun, n. Etym: [OE. nunne, AS. nunne, fr. L. nonna nun, nonnus monk; cf. Gr. Nunnery.]
1. A woman devoted to a religious life, who lives in a convent, under the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration. Wordsworth.
2. (Zoöl.) (a) A white variety of domestic pigeons having a veil of feathers covering the head. (b) The smew. (c) The European blue titmouse. Gray nuns (R. C. Ch.), the members of a religious order established in Montreal in 1745, whence branches were introduced into the United States in 1853; -- so called from the color or their robe, and known in religion as Sisters of Charity of Montreal.
– Nun buoy. See under Buoy.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
2 April 2025
(adjective) secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; “covert actions by the CIA”; “covert funding for the rebels”
Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.