nun
pronunciation
How to pronounce nun in British English:
UK [nʌn]
How to pronounce nun in American English:
US [nʌn]
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- Noun:
- a woman religious
- a buoy resembling a cone
- the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
Word Origin
- nun
- nun: [OE] In medieval Latin, nunnus and nunna were titles of respect accorded respectively to old men and old women in general. In due course they came to be applied specifically to ‘monks’ and ‘nuns’. The masculine form has since disappeared, but the feminine nonna was borrowed into Old English as nunne. This was subsequently reinforced in the 13th century by Old French nonne.
- nun (n.)
- Old English nunne "nun, vestal, pagan priestess, woman devoted to religious life under vows," from Late Latin nonna "nun, tutor," originally (along with masc. nonnus) a term of address to elderly persons, perhaps from children's speech, reminiscent of nana (compare Sanskrit nona, Persian nana "mother," Greek nanna "aunt," Serbo-Croatian nena "mother," Italian nonna, Welsh nain "grandmother;" see nanny).
Antonym
Example
- 1. She converted to catholicism and served as a nun .
- 2. Then one nun took the glass back to the kitchen .
- 3. Dna would verify whether the nun was indeed his daughter .
- 4. At the meeting , one google employee attended wearing a nun costume .
- 5. And watching you may see a nun walking toward your right hand , and a prostitute toward your left hand .