[syn: Monk, Thelonious Monk, Thelonious Sphere Monk]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Monk \Monk\, n. [AS. munuc, munec, munc, L. monachus, Gr. ?, fr.
mo`nos alone. Cf. 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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Print.) 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.
[1913 Webster]
3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the
powder hose or train of a mine.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Zool.)
(a) A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also
applied to other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus.
(b) The European bullfinch.
[1913 Webster]
Monk bat (Zool.), a South American and West Indian bat
(Molossus nasutus); -- so called because the males live
in communities by themselves.
Monk bird(Zool.), the friar bird.
Monk seal (Zool.), 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).
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
monk
n 1: a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself
to contemplation and prayer and work [syn: monk,
monastic]
2: United States jazz pianist who was one of the founders of the
bebop style (1917-1982) [syn: Monk, Thelonious Monk,
Thelonious Sphere Monk]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
63 Moby Thesaurus words for "monk":
Cape polecat, abbacomes, abbot, ape, ascetic, bar, beadsman, bear,
brother, caloyer, cavy, celibataire, celibate, cenobite, chimp,
chimpanzee, coenobite, conventual, conventual prior, coon, ferret,
foumart, friar, glutton, grand prior, groundhog, guinea pig,
hedgehog, hermit, hieromonach, lay abbot, lay brother, mendicant,
misogamist, misogynist, monastic, monkey, mousehound, nun, opossum,
palmer, pilgrim, pillar saint, pillarist, polecat, porcupine,
possum, prairie dog, priest, prior, quill pig, raccoon, religieux,
religious, single, skunk, stylite, unmarried, weasel, whistle-pig,
wolverine, woodchuck, zoril