From Greek 'monos' (alone) — the first monks were solitary hermits; the word for a hermit's cell became the community's name.
A building or complex of buildings housing a community of monks (or nuns) living under religious vows.
From Late Latin 'monastērium,' from Ancient Greek 'μοναστήριον' (monastḗrion, a hermit's cell, a monastery), from 'μονάζειν' (monazein, to live alone), from 'μόνος' (monos, alone, single). The paradox at the heart of the word is that 'monastery' — a place of communal religious life — derives from a root meaning 'alone.' The earliest Christian monastics were hermits (from Greek 'ἔρημος,' erēmos, desert, solitary) who lived
A 'monastery' literally means 'a place for being alone' — from Greek 'monos' (alone). The irony is that monasteries are communal institutions where dozens or hundreds of monks live together. The explanation is historical: the first Christian monastics were solitary hermits in the Egyptian desert