Nunnery

//ˈnʌn(ə)ɹi// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any convent (religious community) or the buildings thereof.
  2. 2
    the convent of a community of nuns wordnet
  3. 3
    Any convent (religious community) or the buildings thereof.; The residence of a female religious community, a monastery or abbey for nuns.

    "Get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners?"

  4. 4
    Synonym of brothel. humorous, obsolete, slang

    "[To] some one Gentleman generally acquainted, they giue... free priuiledge thenceforward in theyr Nunnery, to procure them frequentance..."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
conventbrothelbrothelcathousecloisterdancing school

Example

More examples

"Every nunnery has its own rules."

Etymology

From Middle English nonnery, nonnerie, equivalent to nun + -ery. (brothel): Compare typologically Czech nevěstinec (< nevěstka < nevěsta).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.