Monastery (plural: monasteries) denotes the building, or complex of buildings, comprising the domestic quarters and workplace(s) of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in communities or alone (hermits). The monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church or temple, and may also serve as an oratory.

Monasteries may vary greatly in size, comprising a small dwelling accommodating only a hermit, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a forge or a brewery.

In English usage, the term "monastery" is generally used to denote the buildings of a community of monks. In modern usage "convent" tends to be applied only to institutions of female monastics (nuns), particularly communities of teaching or nursing Religious Sisters. Historically, a convent denoted a house of friars, (reflecting the Latin), now more commonly called a "friary". Various religions may apply these terms in more specific ways.