Conventual

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. referring to the customs and practices typical of a religious community or the lifestyle inherent to a monastery or convent
2. Pertaining to the lifestyle, duties, or routine observed within a monastery or convent
3. Connected with the practices and regulations followed by those living under monastic vows

Etymology: "Conventual" comes from Medieval Latin "conventuālis", a formation built on Latin "conventus", meaning a coming together or assembly. In Latin, "conventus" was a general word for a gathering, but over the Middle Ages it narrowed to mean the community of people living together under a religious rule, which is how the term came to name a monastery or convent. The adjective follows the same path. Once a community was called a "conventus", anything belonging to or characteristic of that community could be described with the "-ālis" suffix, which marks a relation to something, as in "natural" or "national". So "conventual" simply means relating to such a community, and in English its use is restricted almost entirely to monastic life, such as conventual buildings or the conventual church.

Synonyms: monastic, religious, cloistered, hermitic, ascetic

Antonyms: secular, worldly, profane, lay, non-religious