1.NounThe office or dominion of an abbot or abbess. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
2.NounA 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.
"From 1199 to 1203 William Punchard was the abbot of the abbey of Rievaulx, which was part of the Cistercian order of monks."
3.NounThe church of a monastery.
4.NounA residence that was previously an abbatial building.