conventual

See also: Conventual

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin conventuālis, from Latin conventus (“convent”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kənˈvɛntjuːəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈvɛnt͡ʃuəl/

Adjective

conventual (comparative more conventual, superlative most conventual)

1. Pertaining to a convent or convent life; cloistered, monastic.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Disclosure”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 304:

     The noise of her steps, light as they were, attracted the stranger's notice, who, turning round and letting her mantle fall as she did so, showed a tall and stately figure, dressed in what appeared to be some conventual costume.

   • 1976, Angela Carter, “Health on the Brain”, in Shaking a Leg, Vintage, published 2013, page 82:

     The Sunday Times has convinced me I ought to immediately start out on a new regime of positively conventual austerity in order to reduce the burden on a strained NHS by not forcing them to have to cope with my ling cancer or coronary.

   • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 267:

     The Breton Club resumed its meetings in the refectory of an empty conventual building in the rue Saint-Jacques.

Synonyms

• conventical

Derived terms

• Conventual Franciscans (religious order)
• conventualism
• conventualist
• conventually
• Friar Minor Conventual
• prior conventual

Noun

conventual (plural conventuals)

1. A member of a convent.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin conventuālis, from Latin conventus (“convent”). By surface analysis, convento +‎ -ual.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõ.vẽ.tuˈaw/ [kõ.vẽ.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /kõ.vẽˈtwaw/ [kõ.vẽˈtwaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.vẽˈtwal/ [kõ.vẽˈtwaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.vẽˈtwal/ [kõ.vẽˈtwaɫ]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.bẽˈtwal/ [kõ.bẽˈtwaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõ.vẽˈtwa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: con‧ven‧tu‧al

Adjective

conventual m or f (plural conventuais)

1. conventual (pertaining to a convent)

   doces conventuais ― conventual sweets

Related terms

• convento

Further reading

• “conventual”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “conventual”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kombenˈtwal/ [kõm.bẽn̪ˈt̪wal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: con‧ven‧tual

Adjective

conventual m or f (masculine and feminine plural conventuales)

1. conventual (pertaining to a convent)
   • 2015 September 21, “Quito reitera su riqueza histórica”, in El País‎^[1]:

     La semana pasada, el arquitecto de profesión desnudó los edificios conventuales de las órdenes religiosas que recalaron en la urbe y subrayó los “crímenes contra el patrimonio” cometidos por los presidentes de la época republicana, que intervinieron estos edificios.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• “conventual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025