convent
Americannoun
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a community of persons devoted to religious life under a superior.
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a society or association of monks, friars, or nuns: now usually used of a society of nuns.
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the building or buildings occupied by such a society; a monastery or nunnery.
- Synonyms:
- cloister
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Obsolete. assembly; meeting.
noun
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a building inhabited by a religious community, usually of nuns
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the religious community inhabiting such a building
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Also called: convent school. a school in which the teachers are nuns
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of convent
1175–1225; < Medieval Latin conventus; Latin: assembly, coming together, equivalent to conven ( īre ) ( see convene) + -tus suffix of v. action; replacing Middle English covent < Anglo-French < Medieval Latin, as above
Explanation
A convent is a place where nuns live. Have you decided to dedicate the rest of your life to serving God? Well, then, maybe it’s time for you to consider moving into a convent. Although convent usually refers to the actual building where nuns live together, it can also sometimes more generally refer to a Christian community that is living according to religious vows. Catholic monks live in communities together in monasteries, while Catholic nuns tend to live in convents.
Vocabulary lists containing convent
"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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The Poet X
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Queen of the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In Melbourne: St. Anne Convent represents Wallbrook, the facility where Tom Cruise’s character picked up his brother, Raymond, played by Dustin Hoffman, in “Rain Man.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 16, 2026
The climax of the cancelled summit in Budapest would have been the moment he appeared on the balcony of the Carmelite Convent on Castle Hill, overlooking the Danube, flanked by Presidents Trump and Putin.
From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025
Bishop Montgomery 8, Ramona Convent 2: Macey Kim struck out 17 for the Knights.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2025
Susan, then a high school senior at Convent of the Sacred Heart, wrote news releases for the campaign.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 19, 2023
The only certainty is that Joey is taken away from Lucban and brought to the Good Sisters Shepherd Convent orphanage in Quezon City, near the capital city of Manila.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
