MONK

monk. Monk, [munk] n. one who lives in a monastery

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Monk (?), n. [[AS. munuc, munec, munc, L. monachus, Gr. �, fr. μόνοσ alone. Cf. Monachism.]] 1. 1. 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. 2. 2. (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.
3. 3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.
4. 4. (Zoöl.) (a) A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthocephalus. (b) The European bullfinch.
Monk bat (Zoöl.), a South American and West Indian bat (Molossus nasutus); — so called because the males live in communities by themselves. — Monk bird(Zoöl.), the friar bird. — Monk seal (Zoöl.), a species of seal (Monachus albiventer) inhabiting the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the adjacent parts of the Atlantic. — Monk's rhubarb (Bot.), a kind of dock; — also called patience (Rumex Patientia).