cloister

American  

[kloi-ster] / ˈklɔɪ stər /

noun

cloisters plural

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)

cloisters, present (3rd person singular) cloistered, past participle, past cloistering present participle

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

Derived Forms

• cloister-like
  adjective
• cloisterless
  adjective
• cloisterlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cloisters
  plural

Participles

• cloistering
  present
• cloistered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cloister
  simple
• cloisters
  simple
• have cloistered
  perfect
• has cloistered
  perfect
• am cloistering
  progressive
• are cloistering
  progressive
• is cloistering
  progressive
• have been cloistering
  perfect progressive
• has been cloistering
  perfect progressive

Past

• cloistered
  simple
• had cloistered
  perfect
• was cloistering
  progressive
• were cloistering
  progressive
• had been cloistering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cloister
  simple
• will have cloistered
  perfect
• will be cloistering
  progressive
• will have been cloistering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cloister

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

Explanation

A cloister is an enclosed garden, usually surrounded by covered walkways. Because such spaces are often featured in buildings that house religious orders, cloister can be used to mean "monastery" or "convent." In enclosed religious orders, monks and nuns withdraw from society to devote themselves to prayer and contemplation. In order to provide them with access to the outdoors while protecting them from contact with the secular world, the cloister became a common element of convents and monasteries. When used as a verb, cloister generally loses its religious connotation and means "to seclude" or "isolate." Don't get a lunch detention or you'll be cloistered in the classroom while all the other kids are running around outside.

Example Sentences

There the nun discovers her own inner sleuth, and unexpectedly finds joy in life outside the cloister.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

The centre is described as a series of red brick "pavilions" housing care and social spaces, stitched together by a central timber "cloister".

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2023

They should be able to move into a modular cloister of about 3,500 square feet on the donated land by year’s end, Pfaff said.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 19, 2023

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — In 1964, hoping to erase its image as a privileged cloister for white rich families, Wesleyan University contacted 400 Black high school students from around the country to persuade them to apply.

From New York Times • Jan. 15, 2023

The page who had brought Sir Agravaine’s hippocras came in from the cloister door.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

Related Words

• nunnery