A monastery is a building, or a group of buildings, where monks live together. Monks are men who have given their lives to religion — in the Christian world, usually to prayer, work, and a simple shared life, often away from towns. They eat there, sleep there, and follow rules.

A monastery修道院 is是 a building一棟建築, or或 a group of buildings一群建築物, where裡面 monks修士 live together共同生活。Monks修士 are是 men獻身於宗教的男性 who have given their lives to religion——in the Christian world在基督教世界裡, usually通常 to prayer, work, and a simple shared life獻身於禱告、勞動與簡樸的共同生活, often往往 away from towns遠離城鎮。They他們 eat there在那裡吃飯, sleep there在那裡睡覺, and而且 follow rules遵守規約。

A monastery is not the same as a church that people visit on Sunday; it is a home as well as a holy place. A house of this kind for women is usually called a convent, and the women are nuns, though people sometimes use monastery loosely for both.

A monastery修道院 is not不等於 the same as a church一般教堂 that people visit on Sunday人們主日去做禮拜的; it它 is是 a home一個家 as well as也是 a holy place一個聖地。A house of this kind這樣的地方 for women給女性住的, is usually called通常叫做 a convent女修道院, and而 the women這些女性 are是 nuns修女, though但 people有時人們 sometimes use monastery會把monastery loosely一詞用得比較鬆散 for both兩者通用。

In English the word most often makes people think of Christian monks. Buddhist monks live in a temple or a monastery too; Chinese more often says 寺院 for that.

In English在英文裡, the word這個字 most often最常 makes people think of讓人聯想到的是 Christian monks基督教的修士。Buddhist monks佛教的僧侶 live in住在 a temple or a monastery寺廟裡 too也一樣; Chinese中文 more often更常 says 寺院說「寺院」 for that來指這個。

The old Greek story behind the word is about being alone, though actually monks live in a community — they have left ordinary family life, not all other people.

The old Greek story背後那個古希臘字源的故事 behind the word is about is關於 being alone獨自一人; though actually不過事實上 monks修士 live in過的是 a community群體生活——they他們 have left ordinary family life是離開了尋常的家庭生活, not all other people不是離開所有的人。