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monk

1. A man who retires from the ordinary temporal concerns of the world, and devotes himself to religion; one of a religious community of men inhabiting a monastery, and bound by vows to a life of chastity, obedience, and poverty. A monk out of his cloister. Monks in some respects agree with regulars, as in the substantial vows of religion; but in other respects monks and regulars differ; for that regulars, vows excepted, are not tied up to so strict a rule of life as monks are. (Ayliffe)

2. A blotch or spot of ink on a printed page, caused by the ink not being properly distributed. It is distinguished from a friar, or white spot caused by a deficiency of ink.

3. A piece of tinder made of agaric, used in firing the powder hose or train of a mine.

4. (Science: zoology) A south American monkey (Pithecia monachus); also applied to other species, as cebus xanthocephalus. The European bullfinch.

(Science: zoology) Monk bat, a species of seal (Monachus albiventer) inhabiting the black sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the adjacent parts of the atlantic.

(Science: botany) Monk's rhubarb, a kind of dock; also called patience (Rumex Patientia).

Origin: AS. Munuc, munec, munc, L. Monachus, Gr, fr. Alone. Cf. Monachism.