nun

Everyday

1. (church) A nun is a woman who has promised to give her life to God and lives in a religious community called a convent, following rules of prayer and work. tree →
2. (religion) Buddhist and some other religious traditions also have nuns. tree →

In the lessons

In religious education nuns take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience; many teach, nurse or care for poor people. Some nuns wear a long dress and a veil called a habit. In stories like «The Sound of Music», Maria starts out as a young woman preparing to be a nun. Phrases: «become a nun», «a convent of nuns», «a nun's habit», «Sister Mary» (how nuns are called).

Examples

• The nuns ran a school for girls. tree →
• A nun is often called «Sister». tree →
• Mother Teresa was a nun who cared for the poor in India. tree →
• Some nuns wear a black and white habit. tree →
• The nuns pray together many times each day. tree →
• My great-aunt became a nun when she was young. tree →
• Buddhist nuns shave their heads and wear robes. tree →
• On the brow of the mountain yonder is perched, like a swallow's nest, a lonely convent of nuns. tree →

Note

Countable: nuns. Homophone: «none» (not any) sounds the same. The male equivalent is a monk (or friar); the leader of a convent is an abbess or Mother Superior.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah, "Joshua the son of Nun" is Moses' helper and later leader. Here "Nun" is a man's name, not a woman in a convent.

Interpretation. The letter nun means "fish" and stands for the number 50. Tradition notes Joshua's father's name with the letter.

Examples

• And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. (Torah NUM.13.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• Of the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of Nun. (Torah NUM.13.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed the LORD. (Torah NUM.32.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• Nun his son, Joshua his son. (Writings 1CH.7.27, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old. (Prophets JDG.2.8, JPS 1917) tree →
• And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old. (Prophets JOS.24.29, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: nuns. Homophone: «none» (not any) sounds the same. The male equivalent is a monk (or friar); the leader of a convent is an abbess or Mother Superior.

Early Modern English

Meaning

In the Torah "Nun" is a name, the father of Joshua; in the German text "nun" means "now". tree →

Then and now

Today a nun is a woman in a religious community; the Torah and German uses are not the same, so the word is used in an old or foreign sense.

Examples

• And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua. (Torah NUM.13.16, JPS 1917) tree →
• In the German translation (p. 188) Wie dies nun die Kuh sah, die einst seine Mutter gewesen war. (Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore) tree →
• Dalet-Tet-Lamed-Nun-Taw, with the tip of the tongue, serving with voice. (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation) tree →

Note

Today: holy sister; name of Joshua's father; now.