cloister

American  

[kloi-ster] / ˈklɔɪ stər /

noun

1. a covered walk, especially in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade usually opening onto a courtyard.

2. a courtyard, especially in a religious institution, bordered with such walks.

3. a place of religious seclusion, as a monastery or convent.

   Synonyms:

   priory , abbey

4. any quiet, secluded place.

5. life in a monastery or convent.

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verb (used with object)

1. to confine in a monastery or convent.

2. to confine in retirement; seclude.

3. to furnish with a cloister or covered walk.

4. to convert into a monastery or convent.

cloister British  

/ ˈklɔɪstə /

noun

1. a covered walk, usually around a quadrangle in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade on the inside and a wall on the outside

2. (sometimes plural) a place of religious seclusion, such as a monastery

3. life in a monastery or convent

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verb

1. (tr) to confine or seclude in or as if in a monastery

Other Word Forms

• cloister-like adjective
• cloisterless adjective
• cloisterlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of cloister

1250–1300; Middle English cloistre < Anglo-French, Old French, blend of cloison partition ( cloisonné ) and clostre (< Latin claustrum barrier ( Late Latin: enclosed place); claustrum )

Example Sentences

Even so, she didn’t live in a cloister.

From The Wall Street Journal

It offers contemporary art, scary medieval weapons and Gothic cloisters.

From New York Times

To communicate with volunteers and priests, the sisters normally spoke through a turn, a barrel-shaped revolving cabinet used to pass goods into the monastery without violating the cloister.

From Seattle Times

Fourteen years later, Catholic women in Los Angeles raised funds to build the sisters a new cloister, chapel and office complex on the same site, designed by celebrated architect Wallace Neff.

From Los Angeles Times

If Barney’s pictures of cloistered privilege in a largely white world seem out of step with the current social-political tenor of the art world, they continue to fascinate, rather like watching “The Crown” or “Succession.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• nunnery