Alright, challenge for you /prog/...

Whoever can give a proper definition/explanation of a monad in the least amount of words wins.

Rules:
1. No metaphors. Monads are not burritos, end of story.
2. Where possible, use English words and not syntax
3. When syntax must be used, avoid Haskell and derivatives of Haskell.
4. Definition of monad must be complete, and not simple an example of a monad.

>>14

Actually that analogy makes about a billion times more sense than every other one I've heard. I know I said no metaphors, but fuck it, you win.