Nun Definition & Meaning

American

British

Cultural

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms nun 1 American [nuhn] / nʌn /

noun

1. a woman member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

2. any of various birds, especially a domestic variety of pigeon.

nūn 2 American [noon] / nʊn /

noun

1. the 25th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Nun 3 American [noon] / nun / Also Nu

noun

Egyptian Religion.

1. oldest of the ancient Egyptian gods, personifying the primordial ocean from which the world was formed; father of Ra, the sun god.

nun 4 American [noon, noon] / nun, nʊn /

noun

1. the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

nun 1 British / nʌn /

noun

1. a female member of a religious order

2. (sometimes capital) a variety of domestic fancy pigeon usually having a black-and-white plumage with a ridged peak or cowl of short white feathers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 nun 2 British / nʊn /

noun

1. the 14th letter in the Hebrew alphabet (נ or, at the end of a word, ן), transliterated as n

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 nun Cultural

1. A female member of a religious order, living in a convent, whose work is confined to the convent. The term is also applied broadly to other female members of religious orders (“sisters”) who often live outside their convents and work as teachers, nurses, social workers, or administrators.

Other Word Forms

• nunlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of nun1

before 900; Middle English, Old English nunne < Medieval Latin nonna, feminine of nonnus monk

Origin of nūn1

From Arabic; nun 2, nu 1

Origin of nun1

First recorded in 1875–80, nun is from the Hebrew word nūn literally, fish

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This season, an event of global significance preoccupies the nuns and nurses of Nonnatus House: Their branch office in Hong Kong has fallen into the street.

From The Wall Street Journal

When Frieda’s letters back to the nuns inexplicably stop, her friend Sister Agnes sets aside her habit and heads to Gulls Nest to find the young woman, who has vanished.

From The Wall Street Journal

Two excommunicated Spanish nuns who have joined a sect were held for allegedly selling cultural assets belonging to the Catholic Church from a convent they refuse to leave, a court said on Friday.

From Barron's

Three Austrian nuns in their 80s who ran away from the old people's home where they were placed have been told they can stay in their former convent "until further notice".

From BBC

A thousand stories could be invented, for example, to explain the sight of a car pulled over to the side of the road, while a police officer interviews a nun.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• sister

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.