English Explanatory Dictionary

cloister

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that surround a quadrangle; especially:
  2. such an arcade in a monastery;
  3. such an arcade fitted with representations of the stages of Christ's Passion.
  4. A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
  5. The monastic life.
verb
  1. To become a Roman Catholic religious.
  2. To confine in a cloister, voluntarily or not.
  3. To deliberately withdraw from worldly things.
  4. To provide with a cloister or cloisters.
  5. To protect or isolate.

Pronunciation

/ˈklɔɪstə/ kloiʹstər /ˈklɔɪstɚ/ en-us-cloister.ogg en-au-cloister.ogg

Word forms

cloister cloisters cloistre cloistering cloistered

Etymology

Recorded since about 1300 as Middle English cloistre, borrowed from Old French cloistre, clostre, or via Old English clauster, both from Medieval Latin claustrum (“portion of monastery closed off to laity”), from Latin claustrum (“place shut in, bar, bolt, enclosure”), a derivation of the past participle of claudere (“to close”). Doublet of claustrum.

Synonyms

enter religion

Related words

claustrum claustral claustrophobia claustration abbey hermitage monastery nunnery

Derived words

cloisterer cloisteress cloisterism cloisterless cloisterlike cloisterly cloister vault cloistral cloistress encloister incloister cloistered uncloister

Translations

Bulgarian: покри́та арка́да Catalan: claustre Chinese Mandarin: 迴廊 /回廊 Dutch: kloostergang Dutch: kruisgang Esperanto: klostro French: cloître Galician: claustro Galician: caustra German: Kreuzgang German: Chrüüzgang Greek: περιστύλιο Hungarian: kerengő Italian: chiostro Japanese: 回廊 Polish: krużganek Portuguese: claustro Romanian: claustru Romanian: arcadă Russian: клуа́тр Russian: кры́тая галере́я Russian: кры́тая арка́да Serbo-Croatian: клаустар Serbo-Croatian: klaustar Spanish: claustro Swedish: korsgång Turkish: kemer avlu Ukrainian: клуа́тр Spanish: enclaustrar Spanish: enceldar
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