μοναστικός

Forms

μοναστικός (monastikós) m (feminine μοναστική, neuter μοναστικόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek μοναστής (monastḗs, “monk, solitary”) with the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[2][3][4] The noun belongs to the verb μονάζω (monázō) “to be alone”, from μόνος (mónos) “alone”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Christian word of the 4th century AD, found in Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa, meaning “solitary” and “monastic”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

It meant what belongs to the solitary life and especially to the life of monks; the neuter plural τὰ μοναστικά could stand for the monk's way of life.^[6][7] Medieval vernacular Greek used it in the same sense, as in the phrase “the monastic way of life”.^[3]

It continues in Modern Greek μοναστικός (monastikós), “monastic”, as in the monastic community of Mount Athos, and Triantafyllidis treats it as a learned word, and the Academy dictionary notes the support of French monastique and English monastic.^[8][9]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – Basil of Caesarea and the two Gregories use it of the solitary and monastic life.^[2][3]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular Greek uses it of the monk's way of life.^[3]
• Modern Greek – μοναστικός is the ordinary word for “monastic”.^[8][9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. solitary, belonging to the life of a recluse.^[2][1][6]
2. monastic, of or befitting monks.^[2][6][3]
3. (neuter plural as noun) The monk's life.^[7]

Related words

• μοναστής (monastḗs)
• μονάζω (monázō)
• μόνος (mónos)

References

1. ^ a b Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
2. ^ a b c d e Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d e f Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
4. ^ Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
5. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b c Pape, Wilhelm (1914), Griechisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 3rd ed., rev. Max Sengebusch, Braunschweig: Vieweg
7. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Ακαδημία Αθηνών (2014), Χρηστικό Λεξικό της Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Academy of Athens