priory
Americannoun
-
priories
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of priory
1250–1300; Middle English priorie < Medieval Latin priōria. See prior 2, -y 3
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.
See Examples For:
Enthralled by Burbage’s big talk, John Brayne sold his house, let his business slide and coughed up the money needed to begin construction amid the ruins of a medieval priory.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
A wax seal stamp is to go on display at the site of a medieval priory where it is thought to have been used to sell religious pardons.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2023
The prioress of the order had taken her to meet the friar Robert, who was visiting from the Carmelite priory in Oxford, to see if he wanted anything to eat.
From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2023
The ruins of a priory, with its dramatic rainbow arch, still stand, as does a Tudor castle whose imposing silhouette dominates the landscape.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2022
The priory, situated as it was where the road crossed the river, was popular with travelers of all kinds, and the nuns often had visitors to stay.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
And Alison is the kind of plucky heroine who teases her lover about his research: “Lost treasures, haunted priories, secret maps? I think I saw that movie once.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
The tax agreement has been one of Ms. Yellen’s top priories as Treasury secretary.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2022
His companions were genuine lay brothers, able to lead him through the marshes and waterways to isolated hermitages and priories, where he would be able to plan his next moves.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2020
Gov. Sam Brownback has made water one of his top priories since taking office with his staff developing a plan to sustain the state’s water resources.
From Washington Times ● Jan. 27, 2017
But among the early Benedictines each monastery was independent and self-governing, though an abbey might have priories in some measure connected with it.
From Mediæval Wales Chiefly in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: Six Popular Lectures by A. G. (Andrew George) Little
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.
