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A nun is a woman who takes monastic vows, typically of chastity, poverty and/or obedience. Typically as opposed to a sister,
nuns are cloistered and in Catholicism many observe papal enclosure rules. These convents typically have walls and grills
separating the nuns from the outside world.
The male equivalent of a nun is a monk, though the duties of a nun usually lie in the
areas of religious education, nursing or charitable service. Therefore, the word nunk has been coined by Catholic theologian Raimundo Panikkar to refer to a female renunciate leading the contemplative life of a monk.
Nuns are members in orders of several different Christian traditions (Roman
Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox), and in Buddhist traditions.
Historically a nun wears a habit specific to her order, a uniform significantly different from the normal clothing of
the women in her culture. This practice has greatly diminished in modern times. Buddhist nuns also shave their heads.
The nun who is elevated to manage and operate the nunnery or convent where the
nuns live communally may be called an abbess or Mother Superior, and the head of multiple convents of the same order is known as the Superior General.
Nuns do various kinds of work, including nursing the sick, teaching children, looking after the poor, and in many cases simply
withdrawing from the world to pray or meditate.
See also:
In biology, Nun is a genus of the hillstream loach, a type of small
freshwater fish.
In Egyptian mythology, Nun is an alternate
spelling for Nu, the name by which ancient Egyptians called both the mysterious underworld from
where life was renewed and the primordeal god residing there, the name translates as "Abyss"
Nun is also the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew
alphabet.
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