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Priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites, for instance), or monasteries of monks or nuns (as with the Benedictines). Houses of canons regular and canonesses regular also use this term, the alternative being “canonry”.
In pre-Reformation England, if an abbey church was raised to cathedral status, the abbey became a Cathedral Priory. The bishop, in effect, took the place of the abbot, and the monastery itself was headed by a prior.
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Priory (noun)
A monastery or convent governed by a prior or prioress.
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Church (noun)
A Christian house of worship; a building where religious services take place. from 9th c.
“There is a lovely little church in the valley.”
“This building used to be a church before being converted into a library.”
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Church (noun)
Christians collectively seen as a single spiritual community; Christianity. from 9th c.
“These worshippers make up the Church of Christ.”
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Church (noun)
A local group of people who follow the same Christian religious beliefs, local or general. from 9th c.
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Church (noun)
A particular denomination of Christianity. from 9th c.
“The Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534.”
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Church (noun)
Christian worship held at a church; service. from 10th c.
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Church (noun)
A (non-Christian) religion; a religious group. from 16th c.
“She goes to a Wiccan church down the road.”
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Church (noun)
assembly
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Church (verb)
To conduct a religious service for (a woman) after childbirth. from 15thc.
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Church (verb)
To educate someone religiously, as in in a church.