nun

¹ American  

[nuhn] / nʌn /

noun

1. a woman member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

2. any of various birds, especially a domestic variety of pigeon.

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nun ² American  

[noon, noon] / nun, nʊn /

noun

1. the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

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nūn ³ American  

[noon] / nʊn /

noun

1. the 25th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

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Nun ⁴ American  

[noon] / nun /

Also Nu

noun

Egyptian Religion.

1. oldest of the ancient Egyptian gods, personifying the primordial ocean from which the world was formed; father of Ra, the sun god.

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nun ¹ British  

/ nʌn /

noun

1. a female member of a religious order

2. (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

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nun ² British  

/ nʊn /

noun

1. the 14th letter in the Hebrew alphabet (נ or, at the end of a word, ן), transliterated as n

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nun Cultural  

1. A female member of a religious order, living in a convent, whose work is confined to the convent. The term is also applied broadly to other female members of religious orders (“sisters”) who often live outside their convents and work as teachers, nurses, social workers, or administrators.

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Other Word Forms

• nunlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of nun¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English nunne < Medieval Latin nonna, feminine of nonnus monk

Origin of nun²

First recorded in 1875–80, nun is from the Hebrew word nūn literally, fish

Origin of nūn³

From Arabic; nun ², nu ¹

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

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

One of my grandfather’s most repeated stories was about a nun who gave him a new school uniform because the other kids were making fun of how small and worn his old one was.

From Slate • Feb. 19, 2026

There the nun discovers her own inner sleuth, and unexpectedly finds joy in life outside the cloister.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

While the girls sewed, a nun read aloud so that no-one talked.

From BBC • Nov. 15, 2025

Chucha was like a nun who had joined the convent of the de la Torre clan.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• sister