1. A monk of the prolific branch of the Benedictine Order, established in 1098 in France, by Robert, abbot of Molesme. For two hundred years the Cistercians followed the rule of St. Benedict in all its rigor.
2. Of or pertaining to the Cistercians.

A member of a monastic order founded by St. Robert of Molesme in 1098 at Câteaux, France, under Benedictine rule.