I. ˈnən noun
( -s ; except sense 2c(1) )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English nunne, from Late Latin nonna nun, child's nurse; of baby-talk origin like Greek nanna, nenna female relative, aunt, Welsh nain grandmother, Albanian nanë mother, child's nurse, Russian nyanya child's attendant, Sanskrit nanā mother, little mother
1.
a. obsolete : a priestess of a pagan deity
prohibited all but the emperor and vestal nuns to be buried within the city — John Houghton
b. : a woman belonging to a religious order
in primitive Buddhism there were four ecclesiastical orders: monks, nuns, devout laymen, and devout laywomen — Religions in Japan
especially : a woman living in a convent under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience
a convent of nuns vowed to contemplation who … never went outside the convent walls — L.P.Smith
2.
a. dialect England : blue tit
b. chiefly Britain : smew
c.
(1) usually capitalized : a German breed of domestic pigeons
(2) : a bird of this breed that is white with a colored head, tail, and wing tips and has a semicircular crest of white feathers curving forward from the back of the head
d. : a weaverbird of the genus Lonchura
3. : nun moth
4.
[by shortening]
: nun buoy
II. transitive verb
( nunned ; nunned ; nunning ; nuns )
: to confine in or as if in a nunnery
III. ˈnün, ˈnu̇n noun
( -s )
Etymology: Hebrew nūn
1. : the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet — symbol נ; see alphabet table
2. : the letter of the Phoenician alphabet or of any of various other Semitic alphabets corresponding to the Hebrew nun