# monk

> English word · Noun · IPA /mʌŋk/ · frequency rank #7,944

## Definitions
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. Someone who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
4. An unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
5. A judge.
6. An 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. The monkfish.
10. A fuse for firing mines.

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **MoS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mos)
- **mop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mop)
- **MOR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mor)
- **moo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-moo)
- **mou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mou)
- **mot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mot)
- **mow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mow)
- **mun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mun)
- **MSN** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-msn)
- **Moz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-moz)
- **more** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-more)
- **most** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-most)
- **move** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-move)
- **moon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-moon)
- **mood** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mood)
- **moss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-moss)
- **moth** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-moth)
- **musk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-musk)
- **mont** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-mont)
- **moto** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/monk-vs-moto)

## Common misspellings (6)
`mmonk`, `mnok`, `mokn`, `monkk`, `monnk`, `omnk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/monk