from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Priory \Pri"o*ry\, n.; pl. {Priories}. [Cf. LL. prioria. See
{Prior}, n.]
A religious house presided over by a prior or prioress; --
sometimes an offshoot of, an subordinate to, an abbey, and
called also {cell}, and {obedience}. See {Cell}, 2.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Of such houses there were two sorts: one where the
prior was chosen by the inmates, and governed as
independently as an abbot in an abbey; the other where
the priory was subordinate to an abbey, and the prior
was placed or displaced at the will of the abbot.
[1913 Webster]
{Alien priory}, a small religious house dependent on a large
monastery in some other country.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: See {Cloister}.
[1913 Webster]