monastery
/ˈmɑnəˌstɛɹi/noun
monastery is spelled M-O-N-A-S-T-E-R-Y: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, monastery means “A residence for monks or others who have taken religious vows” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of monastery is monasteries.
How many letters and syllables are in monastery?
| Letters | 9: M-O-N-A-S-T-E-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is monastery?
Monastery appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce monastery?
- UK /ˈmɒnəstɹi/
- US /ˈmɑnəˌstɛɹi/
- US /ˈmɑnəstəɹi/
Monastery has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: Monastery_en_us.wav, En-us-monastery.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of monastery
- monasteries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does monastery mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A residence for monks or others who have taken religious vows.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Monastery in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense building for monks:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | monastère |
| German | Kloster |
| Portuguese | mosteiro, monastério |
| Spanish | monasterio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does monastery come from?
From Middle English monasterie, from Old French monastere, from Medieval Latin monastērium (“monastery”), from Ancient Greek μοναστήριον (monastḗrion, “hermitage, monastery”), from μοναστήριος (monastḗrios, “alone, made alone”) + -ιον (-ion, “-ium”, suffix forming place names), from μονάζω (monázō, “to be alone”), from μόνος (mónos, “alone”) + -άζω (-ázō, verb-forming suffix). Doublet of minster.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).