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cloister

Syllabification: (clois·ter)

Pronunciation: /ˈkloistər/

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Definition of cloister

noun

a covered walk in a convent, monastery, college, or cathedral, typically with a wall on one side and a colonnade open to a quadrangle on the other.
(the cloister) monastic life:he was inclined more to the cloister than the sword
a convent or monastery.

verb

[with object]

seclude or shut up in or as if in a convent or monastery:the monastery was where the Brothers would cloister themselves to meditate she cloisters herself at home

Derivatives

cloistral

Origin:

Middle English (in the sense 'place of religious seclusion'): from Old French cloistre, from Latin claustrum, clostrum 'lock, enclosed place', from claudere 'to close'

cloister in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cloister in the British & World English dictionary

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