||Ab"bé` (b"b`), n. [F. abbé. See Abbot.] The French word answering to the English abbot, the head of an abbey; but commonly a title of respect given in France to every one vested with the ecclesiastical habit or dress.
After the 16th century, the name was given, in social parlance, to candidates for some priory or abbey in the gift of the crown. Many of these aspirants became well known in literary and fashionable life. By further extension, the name came to be applied to unbeneficed secular ecclesiastics generally. Littré.
Ab"bess (b"bs), n. [OF. abaesse, abeesse, F. abbesse, L. abbatissa, fem. of abbas, abbatis, abbot. See Abbot.] A female superior or governess of a nunnery, or convent of nuns, having the same authority over the nuns which the abbots have over the monks. See Abbey.
Ab"bey (b"b), n.; pl. Abbeys (-bz). [OF. abaïe, abbaïe, F. abbaye, L. abbatia, fr. abbas abbot. See Abbot.] 1. A monastery or society of persons of either sex, secluded from the world and devoted to religion and celibacy; also, the monastic building or buildings.
The men are called monks, and governed by an abbot; the women are called nuns, and governed by an abbess.