monasticism

mo·nas·ti·cism  (m-nst-szm)

n.

The monastic life or system, especially as practiced in a monastery.

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monasticism

1. the rule or system of life in a monastery.
2. the life or condition of a monk. — monastic, n., adj. — monastical, adj.

See also: Christianity

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a regularized program of religious observance, asceticism, and work foliowed in a monastery; monachism. — monastic, n., adj.

See also: Monks and Nuns

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

monasticism - asceticism as a form of religious life; usually conducted in a community under a common rule and characterized by celibacy and poverty and obedience austerity, nonindulgence, asceticism - the trait of great self-denial (especially refraining from worldly pleasures) eremitism - monasticism characterized by solitude in which the social dimension of life is sacrificed to the primacy of religious experience