Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
monastic habit

monastic habit

8.9
A long loose garment worn by monks to show their religious group
  • noun
  • /məˈnæstɪk ˈhæbɪt/
translation icon : hábit monástico
  • The color and style of the monastic habit can indicate the monk's religious order.

Examples

  • Centuries-old paintings often depict monks in traditional monastic habits.

  • The novice carefully donned his monastic habit before morning prayers.

  • The monk wore a simple monastic habit.

  • Many monks in the abbey don their monastic habits at sunrise.

  • The monk wore his monastic habit every day as a symbol of his devotion.

  • During the ceremony, all the monks were dressed in their traditional monastic habit.

  • The monastic habit was made of simple fabric, reflecting the monks' commitment to humility.

Synonyms

cowl
vsmonastic habit
23 8.3

A loose hood worn by monks

is the long loose garment worn in monasteries as a sign of religious order
habit
vsmonastic habit
9 7.5

A simple cloth outfit worn by members of a religious group

is a long loose garment worn by monks as a sign of their order

Surface Forms

monastic habit singular
monastic habits plural

Morphology

monastic + habit

The meaning is directly compositional: 'monastic' means relating to monks and 'habit' refers to a distinctive garment, so together they denote the garment worn by monks. This straightforward modifier+noun combination is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words can reliably infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Monastic habit is a name for the special clothes worn by monks: monastic means 'about monks' and habit was an old word for a simple robe. Monks wore this long, loose garment as a visible sign of their 'order' and way of life, so today monastic habit means the long robe a monk wears.