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cenobite

or coe·no·bite

[see-nuh-bahyt, sen-uh-]
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noun
  1. a member of a religious order living in a convent or community.
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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. 2018

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.

  • 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.

  • Like a cenobite's cell, too, my pavilion was not meant for a storehouse of worldly treasures.

British Dictionary definitions for cenobite

cenobite

noun
  1. a variant spelling of coenobite
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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

n.

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-).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper