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nun

1 American  
[nuhn] / nʌn /

noun

  1. a woman member of a religious order, especially one bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

  2. any of various birds, especially a domestic variety of pigeon.

nun 2 American  
[noon, noon] / nun, nʊn /

noun

  1. the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

  2. the consonant sound represented by this letter.

nūn 3 American  
[noon] / nʊn /

noun

  1. the 25th letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Nun 4 American  
[noon] / nun /
Also Nu

noun

Egyptian Religion.

  1. oldest of the ancient Egyptian gods, personifying the primordial ocean from which the world was formed; father of Ra, the sun god.

nun 1 British  
/ nʌn /

noun

  1. a female member of a religious order

  2. (sometimes capital) a variety of domestic fancy pigeon usually having a black-and-white plumage with a ridged peak or cowl of short white feathers

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
nun 2 British  
/ nʊn /

noun

  1. the 14th letter in the Hebrew alphabet (נ or, at the end of a word, ן), transliterated as n

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
nun Cultural  

  1. A female member of a religious order, living in a convent, whose work is confined to the convent. The term is also applied broadly to other female members of religious orders (“sisters”) who often live outside their convents and work as teachers, nurses, social workers, or administrators.

Other Word Forms

  • nunlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of nun1

before 900; Middle English, Old English nunne < Medieval Latin nonna, feminine of nonnus monk

Origin of nun2

First recorded in 1875–80, nun is from the Hebrew word nūn literally, fish

Origin of nūn3

From Arabic; nun 2, nu 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

She won the 1996 Best Actress Oscar for "Dead Man Walking", where she played a nun who supports a man sentenced to death.

From Barron's

Kate presided over a mahogany séance table, dressed simply in a black silk gown with a gold cross around her neck almost like a kind of Spiritualist nun.

From Literature

Marie, who becomes the prioress of the abbey at 17, begins a rise to power — or as much power as a woman is permitted — using her fellow nuns to fight off political and violent incursions.

From Los Angeles Times

Rosa Padhilete, a Franciscan nun who came from Naples, said she felt an "immense, inexplicable joy" seeing the remains.

From Barron's

The Dominican nuns who run the kitchen prepare food for about 80 elderly or destitute people -- growing numbers of Cubans are forced to rummage through garbage bins for food -- each day.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.