abbey

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See also: Abbey

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From A.D. 1250 in Middle English abbey, abbeye (convent headed by an abbot) (compare archaic English abbaye), itself borrowed from Old French abaïe, abbaïe, abeïe, abbeïe (Modern French abbaye) from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbātia, from Classical Latin abbās (abbot). Doublet of abbacy and Opatija. See abbot.

Ruins of Fountains Abbey

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈæb.i/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -æbi

Noun

abbey (plural abbeys)

  1. The office or dominion of an abbot or abbess.
  2. A monastery or society of people, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy, which is headed by an abbot or abbess; also, the monastic building or buildings.
    From 1199 to 1203 William Punchard was the abbot of the abbey of Rievaulx, which was part of the Cistercian order of monks.
  3. The church of a monastery.
  4. (British) A residence that was previously an abbatial building.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abbey”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 3.
  2. ^ Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 , →ISBN), page 1

Further reading

Anagrams

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French abaie, from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbātia. Doublet of abbathie.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /aˈbɛi̯(ə)/, /aˈbiː(ə)/

Noun

abbey (plural abbeyes)

  1. An abbey (a building or monastic institution).
  2. The church located inside a monastery.
  3. (rare) Abbotship; abbacy.

Descendants

  • English: abbey
  • Scots: aibbey, aibey

References