noun a small, dark brown, subtropical seal of the genus Monachus: the three species, M. tropicalis of the Caribbean, M. schauinslandi of Hawaiian island regions, and M. monachus of the Mediterranean, are endangered.
Origin: 1835–45; apparently translation of the NL genus name
Monachus (see
monk), originally a specific name (
Phoca monacha), probably in allusion to the animal's gray coloration and isolated breeding sites; compare
French moine, Italian monaco the monk seal, literally, monk
