take the veil

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

take the veil (third-person singular simple present takes the veil, present participle taking the veil, simple past took the veil, past participle taken the veil)

1. (idiomatic) To retire into a convent and live as a nun.
   • 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter VII, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 185:

     “ […] I shall devote myself for a time to the examination of the Roman Catholic dogmas, and to a careful study of the workings of their system: if I find it to be, as I half suspect it is, the one best calculated to ensure the doing of all things decently and in order, I shall embrace the tenets of Rome and probably take the veil.”

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: mennä nunnaluostariin, ryhtyä nunnaksi
• French: prendre le voile (fr)