Editing Monk (section)

{{short description|Member of a monastic religious order}}
{{other uses|Monk (disambiguation)|Monks (disambiguation)}}
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[[File:Christus carthusian.jpg|thumb|Portrait depicting a [[Carthusians|Carthusian]] monk in the Roman Catholic Church (1446)]]
[[File:Buddhist alms in Si Phan Don.jpg|thumb|[[Buddhist monk]]s collecting alms]]
A '''monk''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ʌ|ŋ|k}}; from {{langx|el|μοναχός}}, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via [[Latin]] {{lang|la|monachus}})<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dmonaxo%2Fs |title=μοναχός |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |work=A Greek-English Lexicon}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Monk, n.1 |website=OED Online |edition=3rd |date=March 2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/121259}}</ref> is a [[man]] who is a member of a religious order and lives in a [[monastery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=monk noun (1) |work=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/monk |access-date=2020-08-17}}</ref> A monk usually lives his life in [[prayer]] and [[contemplation]]. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions and in philosophy across numerous cultures.

The Greek word for "monk" may be applied to men or women. In English, however, "monk" is applied mainly to men, while ''[[nun]]'' is typically used for female monastics.

Although the term ''monachos'' is of [[Christianity|Christian]] origin, in the English language ''monk'' tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} However, being generic, it is not interchangeable with terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as [[cenobite]], [[hermit]], [[anchorite]], or [[Hesychasm|hesychast]].

Traditions of [[Christian monasticism]] exist in major Christian denominations, with [[religious order]]s being present in [[Catholicism]], [[Lutheranism]], [[Oriental Orthodoxy]], [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], [[Reformed Christianity]] (Calvinism), [[Anglicanism]] and [[Methodism]]. [[Indian religions]], including [[Hinduism]], [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]], have monastic traditions as well.