/ˈæb.i/
OriginFrom A.D. 1250 in Middle English abbey, abbeye (“convent headed by an abbot”) (compare archaic English abbaye), itself borrowed from Old French abaïe, abbaïe, abeïe, abbeïe (Modern French abbaye) from Late Latin or Ecclesiastical Latin abbātia, from Classical Latin abbās (“abbot”). Doublet of abbacy and Opatija. See abbot.
- The office or dominion of an abbot or abbess.
- A monastery or society of people, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy, which is headed by an abbot or abbess; also, the monastic building or buildings.
“Near-synonym: convent”
“From 1199 to 1203 William Punchard was the abbot of the abbey of Rievaulx, which was part of the Cistercian order of monks.”
- The church of a monastery.
- British, EnglishA residence that was previously an abbatial building.
- A diminutive of the female given name Abigail, from Hebrew.
- A diminutive of the male given name Albert, from the Germanic languages.
- A British surname.
- LondonWestminster Abbey.
- ScotlandThe precincts of the Abbey of Holyrood.
- A hamlet in Dunkeswell parish, East Devon district, Devon, England, probably named for the local abbey (OS grid ref ST1410).
- A small village south-east of Tuam, County Galway, Ireland (Irish grid ref M 5043).
- A village west of Portumna, County Galway (Irish grid ref M 7305).
- A village in the Rural Municipality of Miry Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, named after a farm in Ireland.
- A suburb of Busselton, Western Australia, named after landholder D. Abbey.
Formsabbeys(plural) · abby(alternative, obsolete)