1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Monk

MONK (O. Eng. munuc; this with the Teutonic forms, e.g. Du. monnik, Ger. Mönch, and the Romanic, e.g. Fr. moine, Ital. monacho and Span. monje, are from the Lat. monachus, adapted from Gr. μοναχός, one living alone, a solitary; μόνος, alone), a member of a community of men living a life under vows of religious observance; the term is properly confined to a member of a Christian community, but is sometimes applied to members of Buddhist and Mahommedan religious brotherhoods. The Greek and Latin name was first used of the hermits, but was early widened to embrace the coenobites. The term “monk” should not be used either of “friars” or of “canons regular.” (See Monasticism.)