Emily Dickinson Lexicon

MON'AS-TER-Y, n. [Fr. monastère; It. monastero; Sp. monasterio; Low L. monasterium; Gr. μοναστεριον, from μονος, sole, separate; W. môn.]

A house of religious retirement, or of seclusion from ordinary temporal concerns, whether an abbey, a priory or a nunnery. The word is usually applied to the houses of monks, mendicant friars and nuns. Encyc.