A monastery or society of people, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy, which is headed by an abbot; also, the monastic building or buildings
From 1199 to 1203 William Punchard was the abbot of the abbey of Rievaulx, which was part of the Cistercian order of monks.
In London, the Abbey is short for Westminster Abbey, and in Scotland, the precincts of the Abbey of Holyrood. The name is also retained for a private residence on the site of an abbey; as, Newstead Abbey, the residence of Lord Byron
the group of buildings which collectively form the dwelling-place of a society of monks or nuns
A monastery of religious persons secluded from the world, and under vows of celibacy, consisting of monks governed by an abbot, or of nuns under an abess The development of meaning was a) the jurisdiction or benefice of an abbot, abbacy; b) the religious establishment or corporation; and c) the monastic building But there sense cannot always be separated (OED Vol I, 15)
An abbey is a church with buildings attached to it in which monks or nuns live or used to live. a large church with buildings next to it where monks and nuns live or used to live. Complex of buildings housing a monastery or convent under the direction of an abbot or abbess, serving the needs of a self-contained religious community. The first abbey was Monte Cassino in Italy, founded in 529 by St. Benedict of Nursia. The cloister linked the most important elements of an abbey together. The dormitory was often built over the dining hall on the eastern side of the cloister and linked to the central church. The western side of the cloister provided for public dealings, with the gatehouse controlling the only opening to the outer, public courtyard. On the southern side of the cloister were a central kitchen, brewery, and workshops. The novitiate and infirmary were housed in a building with its own chapel, bathhouse, dining hall, kitchen, and garden. In the 12th-13th century, many abbeys were built throughout Europe, especially in France. Abbey Theatre Abbey Edward Westminster Abbey
A monastery or society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic building or buildings
a monastery ruled by an abbot a convent ruled by an abbess a church associated with a monastery or convent
Dublin theatre. It developed from the Irish Literary Theatre, founded in 1899 by William Butler Yeats and Lady Augusta Gregory to foster Irish drama. After moving the troupe to a renovated theatre on Abbey Street in 1904, they codirected its productions with John Millington Synge, staged their own plays, and commissioned works by Sean O'Casey and others. Important premieres included Synge's The Playboy of the Western World (1907) and O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars (1926). The Abbey became the first state-subsidized theatre in the English-speaking world in 1924. A fire destroyed the original playhouse in 1951, and a new theatre was built in 1966
A large Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, next to the Houses of Parliament in London; the traditional place of coronation and burial of English monarchs
born Jan. 29, 1927, Home, Pa., U.S. died March 14, 1989, Oracle, Ariz. U.S. writer and environmentalist. Abbey worked as a park ranger and fire lookout for the National Park Service. He wrote a number of volumes on consumer culture's encroachment on the American wilderness. Desert Solitaire (1968), one of his best-known, is set in southeastern Utah. His 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, describing the exploits of a band of guerrilla environmentalists, inspired numerous real-life activists
an abbey, built in the 12th century, in North Yorkshire, England where Cistercian monks (=members of an all-male religious group) lived. It is now a ruin and is visited by many tourists
a very large gothic church in Westminster, London, first built in the 11th century. Almost all British kings and queens since William the Conqueror have been crowned in the Abbey and many famous people are buried there. Church in London. It was originally a Benedictine monastery. Edward the Confessor built a Norman-style church (consecrated 1065) on the site of an older church there; this was pulled down in 1245 by Henry III (except for the nave) and replaced with the present Gothic-style abbey church. The rebuilding of the nave was begun by 1376 and continued intermittently until Tudor times. The chapel of Henry VII (begun 1503) is noted for its exquisite fan vaulting. Elizabeth I refounded the church as the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster (1560). The western towers (1745), by Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James, were the last addition. Every British sovereign since William the Conqueror has been crowned in the abbey except Edward V and Edward VIII. Many are also buried there, and it is crowded with the tombs and memorials to other famous Britons. Part of the southern transept is known as the Poets' Corner, while the northern transept has memorials to statesmen
a famous Gothic church in London on the site of a former Benedictine monastery; "Westminster Abbey is the scene of the coronations of almost all English monarchs"; "Distinguished English subjects are buried in Westminster Abbey
[ 'a-bE ] (noun.) 13th century. First attested in 1250, convent headed by an abbot, from Old French abaïe, abbaïe, French abbaye, Middle English abbeye, Low Latin abbatia, from abbas abbot. See abbot.