convent

[ kon-vent, -vuhnt ]
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noun
  1. a community of persons devoted to religious life under a superior.

  2. a society or association of monks, friars, or nuns: now usually used of a society of nuns.

  1. the building or buildings occupied by such a society; a monastery or nunnery.

  2. Obsolete. assembly; meeting.

Origin of convent

1
1175–1225; <Medieval Latin conventus;Latin: assembly, coming together, equivalent to conven(īre) (see convene) + -tus suffix of v. action; replacing Middle English covent<Anglo-French <Medieval Latin, as above

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British Dictionary definitions for convent

convent

/ (ˈkɒnvənt) /


noun
  1. a building inhabited by a religious community, usually of nuns

  2. the religious community inhabiting such a building

  1. Also called: convent school a school in which the teachers are nuns

Origin of convent

1
C13: from Old French covent, from Latin conventus meeting, from convenīre to come together; see convene

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

Cultural definitions for convent

convent

A community of people in a religious order, especially nuns.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.