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minster

[min-ster]
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noun
  1. a church actually or originally connected with a monastic establishment.
  2. any large or important church, as a cathedral.
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Origin of minster

before 900; Middle English, Old English mynster (cognate with German Münster) < Vulgar Latin *monisterium, for Late Latin monastērium monastery
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

sanctuarysynagogueparishmosqueshrinetemplechapelbasilicachancelminsteroratorymissionabbeyfoldcathedraltabernaclebethelchantrysacellum

Examples from the Web for minster

Historical Examples

  • It may be that he can prefer thee to some post about the minster.

    The Armourer's Prentices

    Charlotte M. Yonge

  • We missed our morning mass, it will do us no harm to hear Nones in the Minster.

    The Armourer's Prentices

    Charlotte M. Yonge

  • The Holy Well, which was inside the minster, is now covered up.

  • Its minster was founded in the days of Æthelstan, but the remains are Norman work.

  • I have just come from the minster, but could see nothing of him there.

    The Nebuly Coat

    John Meade Falkner

British Dictionary definitions for minster

minster

noun
  1. British any of certain cathedrals and large churches, usually originally connected to a monastery
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Word Origin

Old English mynster, probably from Vulgar Latin monisterium (unattested), variant of Church Latin monastērium monastery
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 minster

n.

Old English mynster "the church of a monastery" (8c.), from Late Latin monasterium (see monastery). Cf. Old French moustier, French moûtier, Old Irish manister.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper