cloister

¹clois·ter

noun \ˈklȯi-stər\

Definition of CLOISTER

1

a : a monastic establishment

b : an area within a monastery or convent to which the religious are normally restricted

c : monastic life

d : a place or state of seclusion

2

: a covered passage on the side of a court usually having one side walled and the other an open arcade or colonnade

Examples of CLOISTER

1. <monks living in a cloister in the country>

Illustration of CLOISTER

Origin of CLOISTER

Middle English cloistre, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin claustrum, from Latin, bar, bolt, from claudere to close — more at close

First Known Use: 13th century

Related to CLOISTER

Synonyms

abbey, monastery, friary, hermitage, priory

Related Words

house; convent, nunnery; lamasery

Other Architecture Terms

buttress, casita, cornice, fanlight, garret, lintel, parapet, pilaster, plinth

Rhymes with CLOISTER

hoister, oyster, roister

²cloister

transitive verb

clois·teredclois·ter·ing \-st(ə-)riŋ\

Definition of CLOISTER

1

: to seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister <a scientist who cloisters herself in a laboratory>

2

: to surround with a cloister <cloistered gardens>

First Known Use of CLOISTER

1581

cloister

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Open arcaded cloister of Saint-Trophîme, Arles, Fr.—Jean Roubier

Four-sided enclosure surrounded by covered walkways and usually attached to a monastic or cathedral church; also, the walkways themselves. The earliest cloisters were open arcades, usually with sloping wooden roofs. This form was generally superseded in England by a range of windows lighting a vaulted ambulatory (aisle). In southern climates, the open-arcaded cloister remained standard. An especially fine example is Donato Bramante's two-story open arcade at Santa Maria della Pace, Rome (1500–4).