con·vent

(kŏn′vənt, -vĕnt′)

1. A community, especially of nuns, bound by vows to a religious life under a superior.

2. The building or buildings occupied by such a community.

[Middle English covent, from Old French, from Medieval Latin conventus, from Latin, assembly, from past participle of convenīre, to assemble; see convene.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

convent

(ˈkɒnvənt)

1. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a building inhabited by a religious community, usually of nuns

2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) the religious community inhabiting such a building

3. (Education) Also called: convent school a school in which the teachers are nuns

[C13: from Old French covent, from Latin conventus meeting, from convenīre to come together; see convene]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

con•vent

(ˈkɒn vɛnt, -vənt)

n.

1. a community of people, esp. nuns, devoted to religious life under a superior.

2. the building or complex occupied by such a society.

3. Obs. assembly; meeting.

[1175–1225; < Middle English covent < Anglo-French < Medieval Latin conventus; Latin: assembly, coming together =conven(īre) (see convene) + -tus suffix of v. action]

Convent

an association of religious persons secluded from the world; an assembly or meeting; a body of monks, friars, or nuns; a company of twelve (or with a Superior, thirteen); an assemblage or gathering of people.

Examples: convent of apostles, 1526; of courtiers, 1484; of friars, 1554; of merchants, 1534; of monks; of nuns; of veins and arteries, 1578; of warriors, 1383; of witches, 1652.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	convent - a religious residence especially for nuns abbey - a convent ruled by an abbess cubicle, cell - small room in which a monk or nun lives nunnery - the convent of a community of nuns cloister, religious residence - residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery)
	2.	convent - a community of people in a religious order (especially nuns) living together religious order, religious sect, sect - a subdivision of a larger religious group community - a group of people living in a particular local area; "the team is drawn from all parts of the community"

convent

noun nunnery, religious community, religious house She entered a Carmelite convent at the age of 21.

Quotations
"The convent, which belongs to the West as it does to the East, to antiquity as it does to the present time, to Buddhism and Muhammadanism as it does to Christianity, is one of the optical devices whereby man gains a glimpse of infinity" [Victor Hugo Les Misérables]
"I like convents, but I wish they would not admit anyone under the age of fifty" [Napoleon Bonaparte]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

دَيْرُ الرَّاهِباتدَير لِلرّاهِبات

klášterkláštěr

kloster

nunnaluostari

samostan

klaustur

convento

女子修道院

수녀원

mokykla prie vienuolyno

klosterissieviešu klosteris

samostan

kloster

สำนักแม่ชี

manastırrahibe manastırı

nhà tu kín

女修道院

convent

[ˈkɒnvənt]

A. N → convento m

B. CPD convent school N → colegio m de monjas

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

convent

[ˈkɒnv^ənt] n → couvent m convent girlconvent girl n → couventine f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

convent

n → (Frauen)kloster nt; to enter a convent → ins Kloster gehen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

convent

[ˈkɒnv/ənt] n → convento (di suore)

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

convent

(ˈkonvənt) , ((American) -vent) noun

a building in which nuns live.

convent school

one run by nuns.

convent

→ دَيْرُ الرَّاهِبات klášter kloster Kloster μοναστήρι convento nunnaluostari couvent samostan convento 女子修道院 수녀원 klooster nonnekloster klasztor convento монастырь kloster สำนักแม่ชี manastır nhà tu kín 女修道院

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

My Father was a native of Ireland and an inhabitant of Wales; my Mother was the natural Daughter of a Scotch Peer by an italian Opera-girl--I was born in Spain and received my Education at a Convent in France.

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When it at last rose to the walls of the convent of the Great Saint Bernard, it was as if that weather- beaten structure were another Ark, and floated on the shadowy waves.

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At length he resolved to conduct her to a convent of which a sister of his was prioress; Camilla agreed to this, and with the speed which the circumstances demanded, Lothario took her to the convent and left her there, and then himself quitted the city without letting anyone know of his departure.

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In addition to this, D'Artagnan possessed that invincible stock of resolution which the counsels of his father had implanted in his heart: "Endure nothing from anyone but the king, the cardinal, and Monsieur de Treville." He flew, then, rather than walked, toward the convent of the Carmes Dechausses, or rather Deschaux, as it was called at that period, a sort of building without a window, surrounded by barren fields--an accessory to the Preaux-Clercs, and which was generally employed as the place for the duels of men who had no time to lose.

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We staid at this great convent all night, guests of the hospitable priests.

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I entered through the convent gate: The abbot bade me welcome there, And in the court of silent dreams I lost the thread of worldly care.

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"I write by the same courier to our worthy friend Aramis in his convent."

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I am a nun from the Spinning Convent,[10] and my mother when she died left me this apple.

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The domes of the New Convent of the Virgin glittered brightly and its bells were ringing particularly clearly.

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It was far down the afternoon; and when all the spearings of the crimson fight were done: and floating in the lovely sunset sea and sky, sun and whale both stilly died together; then, such a sweetness and such plaintiveness, such inwreathing orisons curled up in that rosy air, that it almost seemed as if far over from the deep green convent valleys of the Manilla isles, the Spanish land-breeze, wantonly turned sailor, had gone to sea, freighted with these vesper hymns.

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I then returned: "You are not without sense, cousin Eliza; but what you have, I suppose, in another year will be walled up alive in a French convent. However, it is not my business, and so it suits you, I don't much care."

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"In my youth, London, my lord, then, about 1635, I made a pleasure trip to Scotland; and lastly, in 1648, I lived for some time at Newcastle, particularly in the convent, the gardens of which are now occupied by your army."

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