cloister
The definition of a cloister is a secluded monastery or any place of seclusion.
(noun)A secluded place where monks or nuns live is an example of a cloister.
To cloister is to seclude or shut in.
(verb)When you seclude your children inside your home and discourage them from leaving, this is an example of cloister.
See cloister in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
- a place of religious seclusion: monastery or convent
- monastic life
- any place where one may lead a secluded life
- an arched way or covered walk along the inside wall or walls of a monastery, convent, church, or college building, with a columned opening along one side leading to a courtyard or garden
Origin: ME < OFr cloistre & OE clauster, both < ML(Ec) claustrum, portion of monastery closed off to the laity < L, a bolt, place shut in < pp. of claudere, to close
transitive verb
- to seclude or confine in or as in a cloister
- to furnish or surround with a cloister
Related Forms:
- cloistered adjective
- cloistral adjective
See cloister in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
- A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle.
- a. A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.b. Life in a monastery or convent.
- A secluded, quiet place.
- To shut away from the world in or as if in a cloister; seclude.
- To furnish (a building) with a cloister.
Origin:
Origin: Middle English cloistre
Origin: , from Old French
Origin: , alteration (influenced by cloison, partition)
Origin: of clostre
Origin: , from Latin claustrum, enclosed place
Origin: , from claudere, to close
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