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cloister

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cloister

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Cloister  \Clois"ter\,  n.  [OF.  cloistre,  F.  clo[^i]tre,  L. 
  claustrum,  pl  claustra,  bar,  bolt,  bounds,  fr  claudere 
  clausum,  to  close  See  {Close},  v.  t.,  and  cf  {Claustral}.] 
  1.  An  inclosed  place  [Obs.]  --Chaucer. 
 
  2.  A  covered  passage  or  ambulatory  on  one  side  of  a  court; 
  (pl.)  the  series  of  such  passages  on  the  different  sides 
  of  any  court,  esp.  that  of  a  monastery  or  a  college. 
 
  But  let  my  due  feet  never  fail  To  walk  the  studious 
  cloister's  pale.  --Milton. 
 
  3.  A  monastic  establishment;  a  place  for  retirement  from  the 
  world  for  religious  duties. 
 
  Fitter  for  a  cloister  than  a  crown.  --Daniel. 
 
  {Cloister  garth}  (Arch.),  the  garden  or  open  part  of  a  court 
  inclosed  by  the  cloisters. 
 
  Syn:  {Cloister},  {Monastery},  {Nunnery},  {Convent},  {Abbey}, 
  {Priory}. 
 
  Usage:  Cloister  and  convent  are  generic  terms,  and  denote  a 
  place  of  seclusion  from  the  world  for  persons  who 
  devote  their  lives  to  religious  purposes.  They  differ 
  is  that  the  distinctive  idea  of  cloister  is  that  of 
  seclusion  from  the  world,  that  of  convent,  community 
  of  living.  Both  terms  denote  houses  for  recluses  of 
  either  sex.  A  cloister  or  convent  for  monks  is  called 
  a  monastery;  for  nuns,  a  nunnery.  An  abbey  is  a 
  convent  or  monastic  institution  governed  by  an  abbot 
  or  an  abbess;  a  priory  is  one  governed  by  a  prior  or  a 
  prioress,  and  is  usually  affiliated  to  an  abbey. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Cloister  \Clois"ter\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Cloistered};  p.  pr  & 
  vb  n.  {Cloistering}.] 
  To  confine  in  or  as  in  a  cloister;  to  seclude  from  the 
  world;  to  immure. 
 
  None  among  them  are  thought  worthy  to  be  styled 
  religious  persons  but  those  that  cloister  themselves  up 
  in  a  monastery.  --Sharp. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  cloister 
  n  1:  a  place  of  religious  seclusion  (such  as  a  monastery)  [syn:  {religious 
  residence}] 
  2:  a  courtyard  with  covered  walks  (as  in  religious 
  institutions) 
  v  1:  surround  with  a  cloister,  as  of  a  garden 
  2:  seclude  from  the  world  in  or  as  if  in  a  cloister;  "She 
  cloistered  herself  in  the  office"




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