nun

Meanings

Pronoun

• Pronunciation spelling of nothing

Noun

• A member of a Christian religious community of women who live by certain vows and usually wear a habit, those living together in a cloister.
• A member of a similar female community in other confessions.
• A prostitute.
• A kind of pigeon with the feathers on its head like the hood of a nun.
• The fourteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others).

Origin

• From Middle English nonne, nunne, from Old English nunne ("nun, priestess"), from Late Latin nonna ("nun, tutor"), originally (along with masculine form nonnus) a term of address for elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana, like papa etc. nonna.
• Borrowed from the letter’s name in the respective language. nu.