From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmonasterymon‧as‧tery /ˈmɒnəstri $ ˈmɑːnəsteri/ noun (plural monasteries) [countable] RRa place where monks live → convent, nunnery
Examples from the Corpus
monastery• To protect themselves they also determined to withdraw to a monastery.• They perceived that the acquisition of wealth and privilege exposed churches and monasteries to new dangers.• The church itself became a two-class system: the ascetic monasteries versus the more worldly regular clergy.• Fifteen miles away is Forde Abbey, a 900-year old Cistercian monastery with gardens.• Leaving his monastery in the countryside, Bishop Martin took his place at the see wearing his animal skins.• In the end, they met among the monastery buildings at Melrose, on its river-girt promontory thirty miles inland from Berwick.Origin monastery (1300-1400) Late Latin monasterium, from Greek, from monazein “to live alone”, from monos; → MONO- 