different between monk vs misericord

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Etymology 1

From Middle English monk, from Old English munuc, from Medieval Latin, Late Latin monachus, from Ancient Greek ??????? (monakhós, “single, solitary”), from ????? (mónos, “alone”).

Alternative forms

• moncke (obsolete)

Noun

monk (plural monks)

1. A male member of a monastic order who has devoted his life for religious service.
2. in earlier usage, an eremite or hermit devoted to solitude, as opposed to a cenobite, who lived communally.
3. (slang) A male who leads an isolated life; a loner, a hermit.
4. (slang) An unmarried man who does not have sexual relationships.
5. (slang) A judge.
6. (printing) A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed; distinguished from a friar, or white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.
7. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.
8. A South American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as Cebus xanthosternos.
9. The bullfinch, common bullfinch, European bullfinch, or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula).
10. The monkfish.
11. (historical) A fuse for firing mines.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:recluse

Derived terms

• Monk Bretton
• Monk Fryston
• monkette

Related terms

• monastery
• monastic
• monasticism

Translations

Verb

monk (third-person singular simple present monks, present participle monking, simple past and past participle monked)

1. To be a monk.
2. To act like a monk; especially to be contemplative.
3. To monkey or meddle; to behave in a manner that is not systematic.
4. To be intoxicated or confused.
5. To be attached in a way that sticks out.

See also

Etymology 2

By shortening.

Noun

monk (plural monks)

1. (colloquial) A monkey.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• monke

Etymology

From Old English munuc.

Noun

monk (plural monks)

1. monk
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, pages 40–41

     And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe. And therwith he was named, as I gesse worthili, a passing reuli man and an innocent in al his lyuynge. And herfore grete men of kunnynge and other also drowen myche to him, and comownede ofte with him. And thei sauouriden so his loore that thei wroten it bisili and enforsiden hem to rulen hem theraftir… Maister Ion Aston taughte and wroot acordingli and ful bisili, where and whanne and to whom he myghte, and he vsid it himsilf, I gesse, right perfyghtli vnto his lyues eende. Also Filip of Repintoun whilis he was a chanoun of Leycetre, Nycol Herforde, dane Geffrey of Pikeringe, monke of Biland and a maistir dyuynyte, and Ioon Purueye, and manye other whiche weren holden rightwise men and prudent, taughten and wroten bisili this forseide lore of Wiclef, and conformeden hem therto. And with alle these men I was ofte homli and I comownede with hem long tyme and fele, and so bifore alle othir men I chees wilfulli to be enformed bi hem and of hem, and speciali of Wiclef himsilf, as of the moost vertuous and goodlich wise man that I herde of owhere either knew. And herfore of Wicleef speciali and of these men I toke the lore whiche I haue taughte and purpose to lyue aftir, if God wole, to my lyues ende.”

Descendants

• English: monk

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian mong, mang, from Proto-Germanic *mang? (“crowd”). Compare English among.

Preposition

monk

1. among

Synonyms

• monken

English

Etymology

From 1200–50, from Middle English misericorde (“an act of clemency”) from Old French, from Latin misericordia (“pity”).

Noun

misericord (countable and uncountable, plural misericords)

1. Relaxation of monastic rules.
2. The room in a monastery for monks granted such relaxation.
3. A ledge, sometimes ornately carved, attached to a folding church seat to provide support for a person standing for long periods; a subsellium.
   • 1969, M. D. Anderson, The Iconography of British Misericords, G. L. Remnant, A Catalogue of Misericords in Great Britain, page xxiii,

     Misericords are a very humble form of medieval art and it is unlikely that the most distinguished carvers of any period were employed in making them, except, perhaps, during their apprentice years.

   • 1999, Mariko Miyazaki, Misericord Owls and Medieval Anti-semitism, Debra Hassig, Debra Higgs Strickland (editors), The Mark of the Beast: The Medieval Bestiary in Art, Life, and Literature, page 23,

     In this essay I will focus primarily on the subject of the owl in order to illustrate how bestiary imagery was modified and developed in late medieval public church decoration, primarily in the form of the sculpted choir-seats known as misericords. The owl provides a good case study of this process as it was an especially popular misericord motif and its artistic and literary characterizations are largely informed by—but not limited to—the bestiaries.

   • 2007, F. E. Howard, F. H. Crossley, English Church Woodwork, page 155,

     The construction of a misericord stall is very peculiar. The shaped standards or elbows are cut out of wide planks. They are notched over a deep and massive bottom rail (to which the misericords are hinged in many cases), and are housed into the massive capping, which is very wide and hollowed out with semicircular recesses to form curved backs for the stalls.

4. A medieval dagger, used for the mercy stroke to a wounded foe.

Synonyms

• (subsellium): mercy seat

Translations

References

• “misericord”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, ?ISBN
• “misericord” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.