nun

1
[ nuhn ]
See synonyms for nun on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a woman member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

  2. any of various birds, especially a domestic variety of pigeon.

Origin of nun

1
before 900; Middle English, Old English nunne<Medieval Latin nonna, feminine of nonnus monk

Other words from nun

  • nunlike, adjective

Words Nearby nun

Other definitions for nun (2 of 4)

nun2
[ noon, noon ]

noun
  1. the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

  2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

Origin of nun

2
First recorded in 1875–80, nun is from the Hebrew word nūn literally, fish

Other definitions for Nun (3 of 4)

Nun
[ noon ]

nounEgyptian Religion.
  1. oldest of the ancient Egyptian gods, personifying the primordial ocean from which the world was formed; father of Ra, the sun god.

  • Also Nu [noo] /nu/ .

Other definitions for nūn (4 of 4)

nūn
[ noon ]

noun
  1. the 25th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Origin of nūn

4
From Arabic; see origin at nun2, nu1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use nun in a sentence

  • Looking through this hole, the king perceived an old man weeping, a man in mourning garb singing, and a nun or widow dancing.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • Then through a hole in the door I saw an old man crying, a dancing nun, and a man in mourning singing.

    Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. Pike
  • Beauty was still hers, and the dress of grayish hue, nun-like in its simplicity, seemed more than royal robe.

    The Fifth String   | John Philip Sousa
  • Nerto becomes a nun, but Don Rodrigue, with a band of ribald followers, succeeds in carrying her off with all the other nuns.

    Frdric Mistral | Charles Alfred Downer
  • Are you of those who think a husband should come to them as one whose youth has been the youth of cloistered nun?

    Mistress Wilding | Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for nun (1 of 2)

nun1

/ (nʌn) /


noun
  1. a female member of a religious order

  2. (sometimes capital) a variety of domestic fancy pigeon usually having a black-and-white plumage with a ridged peak or cowl of short white feathers

Origin of nun

1
Old English nunne, from Church Latin nonna, from Late Latin: form of address used for an elderly woman

Derived forms of nun

  • nunlike, adjective

British Dictionary definitions for nun (2 of 2)

nun2

/ (nʊn) /


noun
  1. the 14th letter in the Hebrew alphabet (נ or, at the end of a word, ן), transliterated as n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for nun

nun

A female member of a religious order, living in a convent, whose work is confined to the convent. The term is also applied broadly to other female members of religious orders (“sisters”) who often live outside their convents and work as teachers, nurses, social workers, or administrators.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.