Definition of "cœnobium"

[T]his profeſſion of a ſingle life vvas propagated in Egypt by Antony, and in Syria by Hilarion; and ſpred ſo faſt, that ſoon after the time of Julian the Apoſtate a third part of Egyptians vvere got into the deſarts of Egypt. They lived firſt ſingly in cells, then aſſociated into cœnobia or convents; and at length came into tovvns, and filled the Churches vvith Biſhops, Presbyters and Deacons.

a. 1728 (date written), Isaac Newton, “Of the King who Did According to His Will, and Magnified Himself above Every God, and Honoured Mahuzzims, and Regarded Not the Desire of Women”, in Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John. […], London: […] J. Darby and T. Browne […]; and sold by J. Roberts […], published 1733, part I (Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel), pages 197–198

Some carts are entirely filled with representatives of the Church, but these are jolly, portly fellows, who pay loyally, and hasten to secure the most delicate fare for the table of their different cœnobiums.

1851 October, “Naples Bay and Fish-market”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XLIV, number CCLXII, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], page 447, column 1

[…] M. [Louis-Félix] Henneguy finds four kinds of these colonies, which he calls cœnobiums: […] At the moment of fecundation the bundles of antherozoids are set at liberty by the dissolution of the antheridia wall; they move quickly through the water, and fix themselves on the female cœnobiums, and then separate to fecundate the oospheres, but the author was not able to observe the exact moment of their penetration.

1877 January 1, “New Books, with Short Notices. [The Different Sexuality of Volvox globator and V. minor.]”, in Henry Lawson, editor, The Monthly Microscopical Journal: Transactions of the Royal Microscopical Society, and Record of Histological Research at Home and Abroad, volume XVII, London: Hardwicke and Bogue, […], page 35

This group includes two genera, Volvox and Eudorina, which resemble Pandorina in many respects, and were formerly included with it in one group. Like Pandorina, these plants are motile, and consist of a number of ciliated cells aggregated into a cœnobium. […] The distinction between these plants and Pandorina is that in them certain cells of the cœnobium develope into antheridia and oogonia.

1882, Julius Sachs, “Group I. Thallophytes.”, in Sydney H. Vines, editor, Text-book of Botany: Morphological and Physiological, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, class III (Oosporeæ), page 278

[A]fter I had passed thirty years living in a cœnobium, I rejoice that I have also spent twenty more, so that I can never be accused of sloth among those who tried it in a half-hearted way.

1894, John Cassian, “[The Works of John Cassian. The Third Part of the Conferences of John Cassian.] XIX. Conference of Abbot John. On the Aim of the Cœnobite and Hermit. Chapter III. Abbot John’s Answer Why He had Left the Desert.”, in Edgar C[harles] S[umner] Gibson, transl., edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. […] (Second Series), volume XI (Sulpitius Severus. Vincent of Lerine. John Cassian., New York, N.Y.: Christian Literature Company; Oxford, Oxfordshire; London: Parker & Company, page 490, column 2