English
cloister
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈklɔɪstə/
  • (America) enPR: kloiʹstər, IPA: /ˈklɔɪstɚ/
Noun

cloister (plural cloisters)

  1. A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that face a quadrangle; especially:
    1. such an arcade in a monastery;
    2. such an arcade fitted with representations of the stages of Christ's Passion.
  2. A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
  3. (figuratively) The monastic life.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Verb

cloister (cloisters, present participle cloistering; past and past participle cloistered)

  1. (intransitive) To become a Roman Catholic religious.
  2. (transitive) To confine in a cloister, voluntarily or not.
  3. (intransitive) To deliberately withdraw from worldly things.
  4. (transitive) To provide with a cloister or cloisters.
    The architect cloistered the college just like the monastery which founded it.
  5. (transitive) To protect or isolate.
Synonyms
  • (become a Catholic religious) enter religion
Related terms

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