Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Nun

Nun (nŭn), n. [OE. nunne, AS. nunne, fr. L. nonna nun, nonnus monk; cf. Gr. νόννα, νόννος; of unknown origin. Cf. Nunnery.]

1. A woman devoted to a religious life, who lives in a convent, under the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

They holy time is quiet as a nun Breathless with adoration. Wordsworth.

2. (Zoöl.) (a) A white variety of domestic pigeons having a veil of feathers covering the head. (b) The smew. (c) The European blue titmouse.

Gray nuns (R. C. Ch.), the members of a religious order established in Montreal in 1745, whence branches were introduced into the United States in 1853; — so called from the color or their robe, and known in religion as Sisters of Charity of Montreal. — Nun buoy. See under Buoy.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.