(in Christianity) a man who has withdrawn from the world for religious reasons, especially as a member of an order of cenobites living according to a particular rule and under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
(in any religion) a man who is a member of a monastic order.
a Buddhist monk.
Printing. a dark area on a printed page caused by uneven inking of the plate or type.
(James) Arthur Art, born 1957, U.S. football player.
Thelonious (Sphere), 1917–1982, U.S. jazz pianist and composer.
George. Monck, George.
Thelonious ( Sphere ) (θəˈləʊnɪəs). 1920–82, US jazz pianist and composer
a variant spelling of (George) Monck
a male member of a religious community bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience
(sometimes capital) a fancy pigeon having a bald pate and often large feathered feet
Monk, friar refer to members of special male groups whose lives are devoted to the service of the church, especially in Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox denominations. A monk is properly a member of a monastery, under a superior; he is bound by a vow of stability, and is a co-owner of the community property of the monastery. Since the Reformation, monk and friar have been used as if they were the same. A friar is, however, strictly speaking, a member of a mendicant order, whose members are not attached to a monastery and own no community property.
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English munuc, from Late Latin monachus, from Greek monachós “hermit,” noun use of adjective: “solitary,” equivalent to món(os) “alone” + -achos adjective suffix
A monk is a man who has dedicated his life to religion, partly by giving up some aspects of regular, worldly life. Many monks live together in a religious community. To a greater or lesser extent, a monk has chosen to leave society and devote his life to prayer and service. In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, some monks pray unceasingly, while Buddhist monks often teach others, and Roman Catholic monks sing in choirs. In some cases, monks raise money for their churches by training dogs, baking bread, or even brewing beer. Originally, monk referred to men or women, though it's more common today to use nun for a woman.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Users who have downloaded his app include a strip club owner, a Buddhist monk and parents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Not the monk who was his friend of 30 years, not his niece in New York.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
One is about the dog that accompanied—and inspired—the Cynic philosopher Diogenes; another centers on the canine companion of a Buddhist monk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Nobody has an answer – not Lady Eboshi, certainly not San’s wolf mother or a monk who turns out not to be a monk at all.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
But the father cannot be as big as the son—for now that William is eleven years old, the tallest monk in the abbey barely reaches his collarbone.
From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz
He spent much of the next nine months listening almost exclusively to Monk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
By his 20s, Rollins had already managed to play with jazz legends including Parker, Miles Davis and especially Thelonious Monk.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
By 1961, he was beginning to perform and record with Davis, Parker and Monk.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026
After graduating from high school in 1948, Rollins started gigging around New York and, by the early 1950s, was recording with Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, who Rollins called his “guru.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
When she went upstairs to change, Shukumar poured himself some wine and put on a record, a Thelonius Monk album he knew she liked.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
The start of Khao Phansa on Thursday was a joyous affair in the rural province of Samut Sakhon, featuring offerings to monks and traditional dances.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
But the action is nullified by the fact that Ono assumes the stoic posture of the Buddhist monks seen in the news at the time setting themselves aflame in protest of the Vietnam War.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
A representative of Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom, a hilltop temple in Mukdahan, told AFP the temple had taken in surviving and recovering monks, along with other followers involved in the procession.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
When the BBC visited a monastery in July last year that had once been at heart of Tibetan resistance, monks spoke of living under fear and intimidation.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The monks who were left added to their own the duties of those who had died.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
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.
