nunnery

nunnery
   obsolete
   a brothel
   The religious orders provided many allusive words for sexual subjects before and for some decades after the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1530s, partly out of envy at the wealth of the Church and partly because of the dissolution of many individuals in Holy Orders:
    Get thee to a nunnery. (Shakespeare, Hamlethe is accusing Ophelia of being a prostitute)
   A prostitute might be referred to as a nun and see abbess.

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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Synonyms:

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  • Nunnery — Nun ner*y, n.; pl. {Nunneries}. [OE. nonnerie, OF. nonerie, F. nonnerie, fr. nonne nun, L. nonna. See {Nun}.] A house in which nuns reside; a cloister or convent in which women reside for life, under religious vows. See {Cloister}, and {Convent} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • nunnery — (n.) late 13c., nunhood, from NUN (Cf. nun) + ERY (Cf. ery). Meaning convent of nuns is from c.1300. Meaning house of ill fame is attested by 1590s …   Etymology dictionary

  • nunnery — *cloister, monastery, convent, abbey, priory …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • nunnery — [n] convent abbey, cloister, monastery, priory, religious community, retreat; concepts 368,516 …   New thesaurus

  • nunnery — ► NOUN (pl. nunneries) ▪ a religious house of nuns …   English terms dictionary

  • nunnery — [nun′ər ē] n. pl. nunneries [ME nonnerie: see NUN1 & ERY] former term for CONVENT SYN. CLOISTER …   English World dictionary

  • Nunnery — Recorded as Nunney, Nunnery and Nunnerley, this is an English medieval surname. It is locational for someone who lived at a place called Nunney in Somerset or Nunnerley in Sussex and Cumberland, the latter two being lost or at least diminished… …   Surnames reference

  • nunnery — UK [ˈnʌnərɪ] / US noun [countable] Word forms nunnery : singular nunnery plural nunneries mainly literary a convent …   English dictionary

  • nunnery — noun a place of residence for nuns Get thee to a nunnery, why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? …   Wiktionary

  • nunnery — [[t]nʌ̱nəri[/t]] nunneries N COUNT A nunnery is a group of buildings in which a community of nuns live together. [OLD FASHIONED] Syn: convent …   English dictionary

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