motherhouse

The motherhouse is the founding house of a religious order, or the convent where the mother superior lives.

(noun)

A monastery from which a religion was born and where the religious leaders now live is an example of a motherhouse.

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See motherhouse in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. a monastery or other religious house from which one or more additional religious houses have been founded
  2. the headquarters of a religious community

See motherhouse in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. The convent in which the mother superior of a religious community lives.
  2. The original convent of a religious community.
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