cloister

Noun · Verb
US[kloi-ster]/ˈklɔɪstɚ/2 syllables
Synonyms: religious residence

Open English WordNet

Noun (2)

  1. residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery)Synonyms: religious residenceType of residenceKinds convent, monastery, priory
  2. a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions)Type of court, courtyard

Verb (3)cloistered, cloistering

  1. surround with a cloister, as of a gardenMore general surround, environ
  2. surround with a cloister“cloister the garden”More general surround, environ
  3. seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister“She cloistered herself in the office”More general isolate, insulate

Related words religious residence noun

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hiatusnoun

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Clois′ter noun

Origin: OF. cloistre, F. cloître, L. claustrum, pl. claustra, bar, bolt, bounds, fr. claudere, clausum, to close. See Close, transitive verb, and cf. Claustral.

1. An inclosed place. obsolete Geoffrey Chaucer

2. A covered passage or ambulatory on one side of a court; (pl.) the series of such passages on the different sides of any court, esp. that of a monastery or a college.

But let my due feet never fail To walk the studious cloister's pale.— John Milton

3. A monastic establishment; a place for retirement from the world for religious duties.

Fitter for a cloister than a crown.— Daniel.

Cloister garth Architecture, the garden or open part of a court inclosed by the cloisters.

Synonyms: Cloister, Monastery, Nunnery, Convent, Abbey, Priory. Cloister and convent are generic terms, and denote a place of seclusion from the world for persons who devote their lives to religious purposes. They differ is that the distinctive idea of cloister is that of seclusion from the world, that of convent, community of living. Both terms denote houses for recluses of either sex. A cloister or convent for monks is called a monastery; for nuns, a nunnery. An abbey is a convent or monastic institution governed by an abbot or an abbess; a priory is one governed by a prior or a prioress, and is usually affiliated to an abbey.

Clois′ter transitive verb [past tense & past participle Cloistered; present participle & verbal noun Cloistering.]

To confine in, or as in, a cloister; to seclude from the world; to immure.

None among them are thought worthy to be styled religious persons but those that cloister themselves up in a monastery.— John Sharp

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

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