μοναστήριον

Forms

μοναστήριον (monastḗrion) n (genitive μοναστηρίου); second declension^[1] Medieval μοναστήριν, μοναστήρι and μαναστήρι(ν).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μονάζω (monázō, “to live alone”) + -τήριον (-tḗrion),^[4][5][6] the neuter, used as a noun, of the adjective μοναστήριος (monastḗrios, “monastic”).^[7][4][8] The verb comes from μόνος (mónos, “alone”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first sense is a hermit's cell: Philo, describing the Therapeutae in On the Contemplative Life (25), says that in each house “there is a sacred room, which is called a semneion and a monastērion”.^[4][7][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “monastery”, a house where monks live together, appears from the 4th century AD, in Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus;^[4][6] Procopius and Justinian's Novels use it so, and a 6th-century papyrus has it.^[4][6][7] The 6th-century historian Menander Protector uses the adjective μοναστήριος of a “monastic house”.^[7] Coptic borrowed the noun as Coptic ⲙⲟⲛⲁⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ (monastērion).^[10]

In medieval vernacular Greek it is the usual word for a monastery, also in comparisons for a place left unguarded.^[2] Modern Greek μοναστήρι (monastíri) continues it.^[8][3] Through Late Latin monasterium it is the source of English monastery (about 1400).^[9]

Timeline

• 1st century BC to 1st century AD – Philo uses it for the private sacred room of the Therapeutae.^[4][7]
• 4th century AD – Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus use it for a monastery.^[6][4]
• 6th century AD – Procopius and Justinian's Novels use it for a monastery.^[7]
• About AD 600 – The earliest dated Coptic manuscripts with the borrowed word are written.^[10]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek has μαναστήρι (manastíri) beside μοναστήριον.^[2]
• About 1400 – English monastery is first recorded, through Latin and French.^[9]
• Modern Greek – μοναστήρι (monastíri) is a monastery.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hermit's cell, a room for solitary devotion.^[7][6][11]
2. A monastery.^[7][6][12]

Related words

• μοναχός (monakhós)
• μονάζω (monázō)
• μόνος (mónos)
• Latin monasterium
• English monastery

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
3. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
4. ^ a b c d e f g Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c d e f g Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
11. ^ Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
12. ^ Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg