cenobite

or coe·no·bite

[see-nuh-bahyt, sen-uh-]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cenobite ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a member of a religious order living in a convent or community.

Origin of cenobite

1630–40; < Late Latin coenobīta, equivalent to coenob- (< Greek koinóbios (adj.) conventual, living together, equivalent to koino- ceno-² + bi- bi-² + -os adj. suffix) + -īta -ite¹

Related formsce·no·bit·ic

[see-nuh-bit-ik, sen-uh-] /ˌsi nəˈbɪt ɪk, ˌsɛn ə-/, ce·no·bit·i·cal, ce·no·bi·an

[si-noh-bee-uh n] /sɪˈnoʊ bi ən/, adjectivece·no·bit·i·cal·ly, adverbce·no·bit·ism

[see-nuh-bahy-tiz-uh m, sen-uh-] /ˈsi nəˌbaɪ tɪz əm, ˈsɛn ə-/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cenobite

nun, celibate, religious, monk

Examples from the Web for cenobite

Historical Examples of cenobite

Gustave Moreau alone transposed her to paint—Moreau, too, was a cenobite of art.
Egoists
James Huneker
He retained his old habits as a cenobite, and even as a hermit.
The Lives of the Saints, Volume III (of 16): March
Sabine Baring-Gould
Her neatness and the exquisite care she took of her person had in them little of the cenobite.
Pepita Ximenez
Juan Valera
And though the cenobite realises his personality, it is often an impoverished personality that he so realises.
Miscellaneous Aphorisms; The Soul of Man
Oscar Wilde
Like a cenobite's cell, too, my pavilion was not meant for a storehouse of worldly treasures.
Java, Facts and Fancies
Augusta de Wit

British Dictionary definitions for cenobite

cenobite

noun

a variant spelling of coenobite

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

Word Origin and History for cenobite

also coenobite, "member of a communal religious order," 1630s, from Church Latin coenobita "a cloister brother," from coenobium "a convent," from Greek koinobion "life in community, monastery," from koinos "common" (see coeno-) + bios "life" (see bio-).