The men are called monks, and governed by an abbot; the women are called nuns, and governed by an
abbess.
2. The church of a monastery.
In London, the Abbey means Westminster Abbey, and in Scotland, the precincts of the Abbey of Holyrood.
The name is also retained for a private residence on the site of an abbey; as, Newstead Abbey, the
residence of Lord Byron.
Syn. — Monastery; convent; nunnery; priory; cloister. See Cloister.
Abbot
(Ab"bot) n. [AS. abbod, abbad, L. abbas, abbatis, Gr. 'abba^s, fr. Syriac abba father. Cf.
Abba, Abbé.]
1. The superior or head of an abbey.
2. One of a class of bishops whose sees were formerly abbeys. Encyc. Brit.
Abbot of the people. a title formerly given to one of the chief magistrates in Genoa. — Abbot of
Misrule in mediæval times, the master of revels, as at Christmas; in Scotland called the Abbot of Unreason.
Encyc. Brit.
Abbotship
(Ab"bot*ship) n. [Abbot + - ship.] The state or office of an abbot.
Abbreviate
(Ab*bre"vi*ate) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abbreviated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Abbreviating.] [L. abbreviatus,
p. p. of abbreviare; ad + breviare to shorten, fr. brevis short. See Abridge.]
1. To make briefer; to shorten; to abridge; to reduce by contraction or omission, especially of words written
or spoken.
It is one thing to abbreviate by contracting, another by cutting off.
Bacon.
2. (Math.) To reduce to lower terms, as a fraction.
Abbreviate
(Ab*bre"vi*ate) a. [L. abbreviatus, p. p.]
1. Abbreviated; abridged; shortened. [R.] "The abbreviate form." Earle.
2. (Biol.) Having one part relatively shorter than another or than the ordinary type.
Abbreviate
(Ab*bre"vi*ate), n. An abridgment. [Obs.] Elyot.
Abbreviated
(Ab*bre"vi*a`ted) a. Shortened; relatively short; abbreviate.
Abbreviation
(Ab*bre`vi*a"tion) n. [LL. abbreviatio: cf. F. abbréviation.]
1. The act of shortening, or reducing.
2. The result of abbreviating; an abridgment. Tylor.
3. The form to which a word or phrase is reduced by contraction and omission; a letter or letters, standing
for a word or phrase of which they are a part; as, Gen. for Genesis; U.S.A. for United States of America.
4. (Mus.) One dash, or more, through the stem of a note, dividing it respectively into quavers, semiquavers,
or demi-semiquavers. Moore.
Abbreviator
(Ab*bre"vi*a`tor) n. [LL.: cf. F. abbréviateur.]
