monk

Meanings

Noun

• A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
• in earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
• A male who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
• An unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
• A judge.
• A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed; distinguished from a friar, or white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.
• A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.
• A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus (species)); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos (species).
• The bullfinch, common bullfinch, European bullfinch, or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula).
• The monkfish.
• A fuse for firing mines.
• A monkey.

Verb

• To be a monk.
• To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.
• To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.
• To be intoxicated or confused.
• To be attached in a way that sticks out.

Origin

• From Middle English monk, from Old English munuc, from Medieval Latin, Late Latin monachus, from Ancient Greek μοναχός ("single, solitary"), from μόνος.
• By shortening.