a woman member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
any of various birds, especially a domestic variety of pigeon.
the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
the consonant sound represented by this letter.
a female member of a religious order
(sometimes capital) a variety of domestic fancy pigeon usually having a black-and-white plumage with a ridged peak or cowl of short white feathers
before 900; Middle English, Old English nunne < Medieval Latin nonna, feminine of nonnus monk
First recorded in 1875–80, nun is from the Hebrew word nūn literally, fish
A nun is a woman who's dedicated her life to religious observance. Most nuns spend their time praying or meditating and doing service work in their communities. You may picture a Catholic nun when you hear the word nun, but there are nuns of other faiths as well, including Hindus, Lutherans, Jains, and Buddhists. Nuns serve the poor and hungry, sometimes running schools or orphanages, and they have in common a strict dedication to religion. Nun comes from the Old English nunne, and the Late Latin nonna, "nun," originally a generic word for addressing an older person.
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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.
A nun has been teaching her to cook, and every morning she attends the chapel service.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
And when I found out she was gonna be in the episode where she plays a nun, a murderous nun, I just thought, “I’m not gonna be able to contain myself.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
Since her death, Sr Clare's family have had navigate their own private grief, while also watching as her profile as a nun and potential saint gains global recognition.
From BBC ● Apr. 16, 2026
Rosa Padhilete, a Franciscan nun who came from Naples, said she felt an "immense, inexplicable joy" seeing the remains.
From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 2026
Of course, Anatole’s most faithful prison correspondence was with a nun in Bangassou, which was a matter of great hilarity to his fellow prisoners.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
For 22-year-old Seerat Hafiz, known online as Yikvot or Nun Chai with Jiya, satire and humour are her tools of choice.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
For the last month, Nun Neethoudjif Méléance has got used to a painful routine.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2024
“The Nun II” scared up $14.7 million in its sophomore outing for a North American cumulative of $56.5 million, while “A Haunting in Venice” opened to $14.5 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2023
Like many horrors before it, bad reviews didn’t scare off moviegoers from buying tickets for “ The Nun II.”
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 10, 2023
Were the rumors true that he had walked on water against the Nacogdoches Dragons and had simply flown across the field like the Flying Nun against the Texarkana Tigers?
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
