minster

name

1. A large village in Minster-on-Sea parish, on the Isle of Sheppey, Swale borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ9573).
2. A village and civil parish in Thanet district, Kent, England (OS grid ref TR3164).
3. A former civil parish in Cornwall, England, now part of Forrabury and Minster.
4. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English mynster (see mynisterie), from Old English mynster, from Latin monastērium (“monastery”), from Ancient Greek μοναστήριον (monastḗrion, “monastery; solitary dwelling”). Doublet of monastery.

1. A monastic church.

   “[F]urther south in Kent, there was St. Mildred, whose mother, in 670, founded the minster that still stands there in good nick, with nine nuns who are an ever-present help in trouble to all religions and none.”

2. A cathedral church without any monastic connection.