[clois.ter] n [ME cloistre, fr. OF, fr. ML claustrum, fr. L, bar, bolt, fr. claudere to close--more at close] (13c) 1 a: a monastic establishment b: an area within a monastery or convent to which the religious are normally restricted c: monastic life d: a place or state of seclusion
2: a covered passage on the side of a court usu. having one side walled and the other an open arcade or colonnade
[2]cloister vt clois.tered ; clois.ter.ing (1581) 1: to seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister "a scientist who ~s herself in a laboratory"
2: to surround with a cloister "~ed gardens"