# cloister

/ˈkɫɔɪstɝ/ (US) · /klˈɔɪstɐ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/cloister
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 2. religious seclusion

noun · CEFR C2 · Literary

a place where people live quietly for religious reasons, away from the rest of the world.

For teachers: a place of religious seclusion, such as a monastery or convent; by extension, the monastic life itself.

- After years of busy city life, he decided to seek peace in the cloister.
- She felt a profound calling to the cloister, believing that only through total withdrawal from secular society could she achieve spiritual clarity.

### 3. to shut away

verb · CEFR C1 · Literary

to keep someone or yourself in a quiet place away from other people.

For teachers: to confine or seclude someone in a monastery or a private, isolated place.

- The writer cloistered himself in a small cabin to finish his book.
- During the final months of the negotiations, the diplomats were cloistered in a remote country estate to ensure total confidentiality.

Usage: often used in the passive voice as 'to be cloistered'.

## Examples

- The monks spent their afternoons walking in the cloister.
- The university's oldest buildings are arranged around a central cloister where students can study in silence.
- The stone cloister, with its intricate arches and ivy-covered walls, provides a stark contrast to the modern glass towers of the medical school.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.