Abbey vs. Priory

Abbeynoun

The office or dominion of an abbot or abbess.

Abbeynoun

A monastery or society of people, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy, which is headed by an abbot or abbess; also, the monastic building or buildings.

Abbeynoun

The church of a monastery.

Abbeynoun

(British English) A residence that was previously an abbatial building.

Abbeynoun

A monastery or society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic building or buildings.

Abbeynoun

The church of a monastery.

Abbeynoun

a church associated with a monastery or convent

Abbeynoun

a convent ruled by an abbess

Abbeynoun

a monastery ruled by an abbot

Abbey

An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.

Priorynoun

A monastery or convent governed by a prior or prioress.

Priorynoun

A religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; - sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and called also cell, and obedience. See Cell, 2.

Priorynoun

religious residence in a monastery governed by a prior or a convent governed by a prioress

Priory

A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of monks or nuns (as with the Benedictines).