cloister

Meanings

Noun

residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery)
a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions)
A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that surround a quadrangle; especially:
such an arcade in a monastery;
A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that surround a quadrangle; especially:
such an arcade fitted with representations of the stages of Christ's Passion.
A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
The monastic life.

Verb

surround with a cloister, as of a garden
surround with a cloister
- "cloister the garden"
seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister
- "She cloistered herself in the office"
To become a Roman Catholic religious.
To confine in a cloister, voluntarily or not.
To deliberately withdraw from worldly things.
To provide with a cloister or cloisters.
To protect or isolate.

Origin / 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, religious residence

Scrabble Score: 10

cloister is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
cloister is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
cloister is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

cloister is a valid Words With Friends word