monk

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.

   This is believed to be the completeſt liſt of this voluminous, proſaick, and driveling monk, that can be formed, without acceſs, at leaſt, to every manuſcript library in the kingdom, which would be very difficult, if not imposſible, to obtain.

2. 2
   noun

   In earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.

   Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, while in the case of monk and crusader there must have been a sustaining purpose, and possibly a great abnegation, a leaving of lands and possessions.”

3. 3
   verb

   To be a monk.

   "Ah!" she cried, "thou art the prettiest little monk that ever monked it in this blessed, amorous town of Constance!"

4. 4
   verb

   To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.

   Many a scholar, making wings of candlewicks to flap away old darkness, monked his life to fasting long while feasting upon new light.

5. 5
   verb

   To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.

   The Avatar spoke gently as she responded to his jibe. "Now fucking get aboard and stop monking on like a schoolboy, you silly earplug.

6. 6
   verb

   To be intoxicated or confused.

   I looked up from the thick cotton mat, unsure where my legs were. “She looks monked up.” “maybe her brain is damaged, huh, miss Bryant?”

7. 7
   verb

   To attach so that it sticks out.

   Molten roofing north, lead dripping down south, stand like those immobilized columns of arctic water west, stalagmites, monked and housed or stamped and dudleyed east, in school texts.

8. 8
   noun

   A monkey.

   ‘We wuz talkin’ and the monk got loose, and she sent me off to catch him.’

Etymology

From Middle English monk, from Old English munuc, from Proto-West Germanic *munik, from Late Latin monicus, variant of monachus, from Ancient Greek μοναχός (monakhós, “single, solitary”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone”).