monk Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work
monastic.
noun United States jazz pianist who was one of the founders of the bebop style (1917-1982)
Thelonious Sphere Monk; Thelonious Monk.

AS. munuc, munec, munc, L. monachus, Gr. , fr. alone. Cf. Monachism.

A man who retires from the ordinary temporal concerns of the world, and devotes himself to religion; one of a religious community of men inhabiting a monastery, and bound by vows to a life of chastity, obedience, and poverty. "A monk out of his cloister." Chaucer.
Monks in some respects agree with regulars, as in the substantial vows of religion; but in other respects monks and regulars differ; for that regulars, vows excepted, are not tied up to so strict a rule of life as monks are. Ayliffe.
(Print.) A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed. It is 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.
(Zoöl.) (a) A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus. (b) The European bullfinch.