cloistered
Origin of cloistered
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cloistered on Thesaurus.comcloister
- a covered walk, especially in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade usually opening onto a courtyard.
- a courtyard, especially in a religious institution, bordered with such walks.
- a place of religious seclusion, as a monastery or convent.
- any quiet, secluded place.
- life in a monastery or convent.
- to confine in a monastery or convent.
- to confine in retirement; seclude.
- to furnish with a cloister or covered walk.
- to convert into a monastery or convent.
Origin of cloister
Synonyms
See more synonyms for cloister on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for cloistered
Contemporary Examples
Formerly a playground for Sunday school kids, it has a spooky, cloistered feel to it.
But over the years, cloistered in their mountain keep, complete with moat, Bender and Patton became ever more reclusive.
Why should the cloistered wants of juvenile men, with baby opinions, dominate any medium and industry so many of us care about?
After World War II, interstate highways opened, and new bypasses rerouted life away from cloistered downtowns.
They expect speedy action to integrate that cloistered community into the army and the workforce.
Historical Examples
That was the effect of my cloistered life, but I had no feeling of fear.
My Double LifeSarah Bernhardt
The home, cloistered off, exclusive, can hardly be said to exist.
Rosinante to the Road AgainJohn Dos Passos
How cloistered and constitutionally sequestered from the market and from scandal!
Essays, Second SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
After his death her first impulse was to take the vows of a cloistered nun.
Italy, the Magic LandLilian Whiting
But I have concluded that such a motive for cloistered life is a cowardly one.
The Crimson TideRobert W. Chambers
cloistered
- secluded or shut up from the world
- living in a monastery or nunnery
- (of a building, courtyard, etc) having or provided with a cloister
cloister
- 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
- (sometimes plural) a place of religious seclusion, such as a monastery
- life in a monastery or convent
- (tr) to confine or seclude in or as if in a monastery
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for cloistered
cloister
n.
early 13c., from Old French cloistre "monastery, convent; enclosure" (12c., Modern French cloître), from Medieval Latin claustrum "portion of monastery closed off to laity," from Latin claustrum (usually in plural, claustra) "place shut in, enclosure; bar, bolt, means of shutting in," from past participle stem of claudere (see close (v.)).
"The original purpose of cloisters was to afford a place in which the monks could take exercise and recreation" [Century Dictionary]. Spelling in French influenced by cloison "partition." Old English had clustor, clauster in the sense "prison, lock, barrier," directly from Latin, and cf. from the same source Dutch klooster, German Kloster, Polish klasztor.
cloister
v.
c.1400 (implied in cloistered), from cloister (n.). Figurative use from c.1600. Related: Cloistered; cloistering.