Cloister

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /ˈklɔɪstÉ™/
• US enPR: kloiʹstÉ™r, IPA: /ˈklɔɪstÉš/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪstÉ™(ɹ)

Alternative forms

• cloistre obsolete

Origin

Recorded since c.1300, directly from Old French cloistre, clostre or via Old English clauster, both from Medieval Latin claustrum "portion of monastery closed off to laity," from Latin claustrum, "place shut in, bar, bolt, enclosure", a noun use of the past participle (neutral inflection) of claudere ‘to close’.

Full definition of cloister

Noun

1. A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle; especially:
1. such arcade in a monastery
2. such arcade fitted with representations of the stages of Christ's Passion
2. A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
3. (figuratively) The monastic life

Derived terms

• cloistral

Verb

1. (intransitive) To become a Roman Catholic religious.
2. (transitive) To confine in a cloister, voluntarily or not.
3. (intransitive) To deliberately withdraw from worldly things.
4. (transitive) To provide with (a) cloister(s).''The architect cloistered the college just like the monastery which founded it
5. (transitive) To protect or isolate.

Synonyms

• (become a Catholic religious) enter religion

Derived terms

• cloistered
• cloisterer

Related terms

• claustration

Anagrams

• cloistre
• coistrel
• cortiles
• costlier