I. ˈklȯistə(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English cloistre, from Old French, alteration (influenced by cloison partition) of clostre, from Medieval Latin claustrum room in a monastery, from Latin, bar, bolt, enclosure, from clausus, past participle of claudere to close — more at close
1. obsolete : an enclosed space (as in a ring of stones or within a seed or nut)
2. : a monastic establishment : a monastery or convent ; also : monastic life
3.
a. : a covered passage or ambulatory on the side of a court usually having one side walled and the other an open arcade or colonnade and typically connecting different buildings of a group or running round an open court especially of a monastery or college
b. : a covered walk, passageway, or arcade (as along a street)
4. : the status of being cloistered
he ordered the cloister of the new monastery to become effective — Springfield (Massachusetts) Daily News
[s]cloister.jpg[/s] [
cloister 3a
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II. transitive verb
( cloistered ; cloistered ; cloistering -t(ə)riŋ ; cloisters )
1. : to confine in or as if in a cloister : seclude from the world : immure
a physicist who cloisters himself in his laboratory
2. : to surround with a cloister : make a cloister of
a small hill- cloistered college town
III. noun
: a place or state of seclusion