Nonmonastic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Not relating to or characteristic of communities of religious persons living under monastic vows and discipline
2. Not having the attributes or practices associated with individuals or groups who live a monastic lifestyle devoted to spiritual pursuits
3. Lacking the qualities or features typically linked to life within religious communities that follow monastic rules

Etymology: "Nonmonastic" is a plain formation: the prefix "non-", meaning "not", attached to "monastic," the adjective for anything relating to monks, nuns, or the communal religious life they lead under a set rule. Put together, the result describes whatever falls outside that way of life, whether a secular clergyman, a lay community, or simply an arrangement that does not follow monastic discipline. "Monastic" itself traces back to Greek "monastikos," from "monazein," to live alone, which derives from "monos," meaning "alone" or "single." The word's sense therefore began with solitude, and only later came to name the shared, rule-governed communities that grew out of early hermit life. "Non-" is a productive English prefix, so "nonmonastic" needed no separate coinage to be understood.