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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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