Standard Lemma guide

coenobium

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /siːˈnəʊ.bɪ.əm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /siˈnoʊ.bi.əm/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /siːˈnəʊ.bɪ.ə/
  • General-American: /siˈnoʊ.bi.ə/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A conventual or monastic community; also, a convent or monastery.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cenoby, coenoby

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A fruit of a plant from either of the families Boraginaceae (the borages) or Lamiaceae which has small loculi or compartments, reminiscent of the cells in a convent or monastery.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A colony of algae which acts as a single organism; a coenobe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: biology, botany, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A colony of unicellular organisms (such as protozoa) which acts as a single organism.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Topics: biology, natural-sciences, zoology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin coenobium (“cloister, convent; monastery”), from Koine Greek κοινόβιον (koinóbion, “life in community; monastery”), the neuter form of κοινόβιος (koinóbios, “communal living”), from Ancient Greek κοινός (koinós, “common, shared”) + βίος (bíos, “life”). Doublet of coenoby. The plural form coenobia is borrowed from Late Latin coenobia.

Across languages

Translations

17 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: cenobi — conventual or monastic community
  • Finnish: luostari — conventual or monastic community
  • Serbo-Croatian: цѐно̄биј — conventual or monastic community
  • Serbo-Croatian: кѐно̄биј — conventual or monastic community
  • Serbo-Croatian: cènōbij — conventual or monastic community
  • Serbo-Croatian: kènōbij — conventual or monastic community
  • Finnish: lohkohedelmä — fruit of a plant from either of the families Boraginaceae or Lamiaceae which has many small loculi or compartments
  • Finnish: kenobio — colony of algae which acts as a single organism
  • Finnish: soluyhtymä — colony of algae which acts as a single organism
  • Italian: cenobio — colony of algae which acts as a single organism
  • Romanian: cenobiu — colony of algae which acts as a single organism
  • Spanish: cenobio — colony of algae which acts as a single organism
  • Finnish: kenobio — colony of unicellular organisms which acts as a single organism
  • Finnish: soluyhtymä — colony of unicellular organisms which acts as a single organism
  • Italian: cenobio — colony of unicellular organisms which acts as a single organism
  • Romanian: cenobiu — colony of unicellular organisms which acts as a single organism
  • Spanish: cenobio — colony of unicellular organisms which acts as a single organism