monk
/mʌŋk/noun, verb
monk is spelled M-O-N-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, monk means “A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of monk is monks.
How many letters and syllables are in monk?
| Letters | 4: M-O-N-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.5 times per million words; the 7,910th 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 monk?
Monk appears 8.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,910th 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 monk?
- /mʌŋk/
- /mɔŋk/
Monk has one syllable (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: En-au-monk.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of monk
- monks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- monking participle, present
- monked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does monk mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
- 2
In earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
- 3
slangSomeone who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
- 4
slangAn unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
- 5
slangA judge.
- 6
archaicAn inkblot.
- 7
A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos.
- 8
The bullfinch, common bullfinch, European bullfinch, or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula).
- 9
colloquialA monkey.
It seems that the big monk up on the roof is nobody but Bongo, who is a gorilla belonging to the circus, and one of the very few gorillas of any account in this country, or anywhere else, as far as this goes, because good gorillas are very
verb
- 1
To be a monk.
- 2
To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.
- 3
To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.
- 4
To be intoxicated or confused.
- 5
To attach so that it sticks out.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Monk in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense male member of monastic order:
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 monk come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).