nun

Also known as woman religious, sister, religious sister, female religious, female monk

A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent. The term is often used interchangeably with religious sisters, who do take simple vows but live an active vocation of prayer and charitable work in the wider society.

AI overview

A nun is a woman who dedicates her life to religious service by taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, usually living in a monastery or convent. Nuns matter because they represent a significant commitment to spiritual life and contemplation within religious traditions, and some engage in charitable work that serves their communities.

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Research

1,747 papers

Healthy aging and dementia: findings from the Nun Study.Annals of internal medicine · 2003Snowdon DA, Nun StudyDOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-139-5_part_2-200309021-00014
The Nun Study: Insights from 30 years of aging and dementia research.ReviewAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Clarke KM, Etemadmoghadam S, Danner B et al.DOI: 10.1002/alz.14626
A no-nun-sense umbilical lesion.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2023Ransford GL, Graffeo CS, Knapp BJDOI: 10.1002/emp2.13009
The Nun Study.Journal of the American Dental Association (1939) · 2008Shapira ILDOI: 10.14219/jada.archive.2008.0118
HK022 Nun Requires Arginine-Rich Motif Residues Distinct from λ N.Journal of bacteriology · 2015Tawk CS, Ghattas IR, Smith CADOI: 10.1128/JB.00466-15
The Leisure Seeker MijajlovićMDPavlovićABraininMHeissWDQuinnTJIhle-HansenHB, and others. 2017. Post-stroke dementia-a comprehensive review. BMC Med2017;15(1):11. PendleburySTRothwellPM; Oxford Vascular Study. 2019. Incidence and prevalence of dementia associated with transient ischaemic attack and stroke: analysis of the population-based Oxford Vascular Study. Lancet Neurol2019;18(3):248-58. KotonSPikeJRJohansenMKnopmanDSLakshminarayanKMosleyT, and others. 2022. Association of ischemic stroke incidence, severity, and recurrence with dementia in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Cohort Study. JAMA Neurol2022;79(3):271-80. SnowdonDAGreinerLHMortimerJARileyKPGreinerPAMarkesberyWR.1997. Brain infarction and the clinical expression of Alzheimer disease: The Nun Study. JAMA1997;277(10):813-7.ReviewThe Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry · 2022DOI: 10.1177/10738584221090208
Preoperative NUn score serves as a robust predictor of overall and disease-specific survivals following radical surgery for gastric cancer.Langenbeck's archives of surgery · 2024Urabe M, Okumura Y, Okamoto A et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00423-024-03317-9
Schwanger - und nun? Möglichkeiten der Weiterbeschäftigung schwangerer Ärztinnen in Hautkliniken.Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG · 2022Welzel J, Stanisz-Bogeski H, Nashan D et al.DOI: 10.1111/ddg.14964_g

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Wikidata facts

Image: Brown habit black veil white wimpole.jpg

Show 6 more facts

P8168: Walter Granzow
ISCO-08 occupation class: 3413
female form of label: nonne
ISCO-88 occupation class: 2460
equivalent class: dbpedia.org/page/Nun
Commons category: Nuns

Sources (5)

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~33 min read

Article

23 sections

Contents

Christianity
Catholicism
Membership and vows
Leadership
Distinction between a nun and a religious sister
United States
Canada
Early modern Spain
Eastern Orthodox
Protestantism
Evangelical Lutheranism
Anglicanism
Presbyterian
Methodism
Buddhism
Thailand
Taiwan
Tibet
Japan
See also
References
Further reading
External links

In Christianity, nuns are found in the Catholic, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican and some Presbyterian traditions, as well as other Christian denominations. In the Buddhist tradition, female monastics are known as Bhikkhuni, and take several additional vows compared to male monastics (bhikkhus). Nuns are most common in Mahayana Buddhism, but have more recently become more prevalent in other traditions.