abbey English · revision 15278

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-13th century|origins=la-lat abbās}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈæbi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|abbeye]], [[bor|xno|abbeie]] (Old French [[m|fro|abaïe]]),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|abbātia|t=abbacy]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la-lat|abbās|t=abbot]] (see [[abbot]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A monastery or convent headed by an abbot or abbess: the mid-13th century in Etymonline, 1250 in the OED, about 1300 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ After the dissolution of the monasteries the name was often kept by abbey churches, such as Westminster Abbey, or by houses that had been abbey buildings, from 1557.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In Scotland the Abbey was the precincts of Holyrood, a sanctuary for debtors, from 1709.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1250 – abbey, a monastery.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1557 – an abbey church.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1709 – the Abbey of Holyrood, a sanctuary.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[monastery]] or [[convent]] governed by an [[abbot]] or [[abbess]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A church that is or was part of a monastery.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Westminster Abbey]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[abbot]]

+ * [[abbess]]

+ * [[abbacy]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Somerset dialect ''abbey'' was the great white poplar, the abele.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}