cenobite

American  

[see-nuh-bahyt, sen-uh-] / ˈsi nəˌbaɪt, ˈsɛn ə- /

Or coenobite

noun

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

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cenobite British  

/ ˈsiːnəʊˌbaɪt /

noun

1. a variant spelling of coenobite

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Other Word Forms

• cenobian adjective
• cenobitic adjective
• cenobitical adjective
• cenobitically adverb
• cenobitism noun

Etymology

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 -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Brother Paphnutius, I am but a miserable sinner, but I have found, in my long life, that the cenobite has no foe worse than sadness.

From Thais by Douglas, Robert B. (Robert Bruce)

And though the cenobite realises his personality, it is often an impoverished personality that he so realises. 

From The Soul of Man under Socialism by Wilde, Oscar

And my soul is a sepulchre where I, Ill cenobite, have spent eternity: On the vile cloister walls no pictures rise.

From The Poems and Prose Poems of Charles Baudelaire with an Introductory Preface by James Huneker by Baudelaire, Charles

There, in Camaldoli, Romuald built a monastery, "and by several observances he added to St. Benedict's rule, gave birth to a new Order, in which he united the cenobite and eremetical life."

From Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa With Sixteen Illustrations In Colour By William Parkinson And Sixteen Other Illustrations, Second Edition by Hutton, Edward

He pushed his quarrels to the death, yet prayed The saints as fervently on bended knees As ever shaven cenobite.

From Poems by Bryant, William Cullen