Word
cloister
Phoneticsclois·ter, stress on the first syllable
US/ˈkɫɔɪstɝ/
UK/klˈɔɪstɐ/
Definitions
01covered walkway
B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun Architecture
n. a covered path with one open side that goes around a square garden in a monastery or cathedral.
n. a covered walk, typically with a colonnade or open gallery, running along the walls of a quadrangle in a monastic or collegiate building.
“The monks spent their afternoons walking and praying in the quiet cloister.”
“The cathedral's fourteenth-century cloister remains one of the finest examples of Gothic stonework in the region, featuring intricate vaulted ceilings.”
02monastery or convent
C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Religion Literary
n. a place where monks or nuns live away from the rest of the world.
n. a place of religious seclusion, such as a monastery or convent, emphasizing separation from the secular world.
“She decided to leave her busy life behind and enter the cloister.”
“Having spent forty years within the cloister, the elderly nun found the noise and pace of the modern city overwhelming.”
03to isolate or shut away
C1 · Advanced Literary
v. to keep someone or yourself away from other people and the outside world.
v. to seclude or confine someone in or as if in a monastery; to isolate from worldly influences.
“The famous writer lived a cloistered life, rarely meeting anyone except his family.”
“The heiress was effectively cloistered in the family estate, shielded from the prying eyes of the tabloid press by a wall of security.”
Usage
often used in the passive voice as 'cloistered'
Real-World Examples
“Similarly, though we tend to assume that life in the medieval cloister was rather cushy, a surprising number of monks felt themselves to be under intolerable pressure.” “The mapping in Roskilde revealed traces of the monastery buildings, including room divisions, cloisters and a church in the southern wing.” 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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
Domain
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C2 ProficiencyIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.8.5–9.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 6.0114–120
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C2 · Proficiency
- Updated
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