Carthusian

American  

[kahr-thoo-zhuhn] / kɑrˈθu ʒən /

noun

1. a member of a monastic order founded by St. Bruno in 1086 near Grenoble, France.

---

adjective

1. pertaining to the Carthusians.

Carthusian British  

/ kɑːˈθjuːzɪən /

noun

1. RC Church

   1. a member of an austere monastic order founded by Saint Bruno in 1084 near Grenoble, France

   2. ( as modifier )

      a Carthusian monastery

---

Etymology

Origin of Carthusian

1520–30; < Medieval Latin Cartusiānus, by metathesis from Catursiānus, after Catursiānī ( montēs ) district in Dauphiné where the order was founded

Example Sentences

This grass-colored liqueur, with its bracing, vegetal taste and mulish kick, called Chartreuse after the Carthusian brothers of your order, is the closest thing you’ll ever experience to a magic potion.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 6, 2022

The famed Polish composer and his French lover, a novelist known by her male pen name, spent the winter of 1838 at this former Carthusian monastery in Valldemossa.

From Washington Post • Nov. 18, 2021

While Carthusian monks take vows of secrecy to protect their recipes, it seems unlikely that they also take vows of poverty.

From Slate • Mar. 22, 2013

Michel comments that it became almost “a Franciscan doctrine”; in addition to Franciscans, distinguished non-Franciscan adherents included Gabriel Biel, Denis the Carthusian, Francis of Sales, and the Jesuits Salmeron and Suarez.

From Forbes • May 20, 2012

He sold it again to his uncle, Pope Pius IV., who founded the monastery of Carthusian monks.

From Walks in Rome by Hare, Augustus J. C.