1814, from French trappiste, Cistercian monk of reformed order established 1664 by abbot De Rancé of La Trappe in Normandy.
A strict order of monks in the Roman Catholic Church.
Note: Until recent years, Trappists took a vow of silence, under which they were rarely allowed to speak to one another. They were allowed to speak only during worship, to their superiors, and to guests at their monasteries.
a branch of the Roman Catholic Cistercians, founded by the converted courtier Armand de Rance (1626-1700), who had governed the Cistercian abbey of La Trappe in France, which he transformed (1662) into a community practicing extreme austerity of diet, penitential exercises, and absolute silence. He became its regular abbot in 1664 and, for more than 30 years, kept the abbey under his forceful sway.