noun / verb
cloister
KLOY-ster/ˈklɔɪstər/
A covered courtyard walkway in a secluded religious residence.
Stone arches line the sheltered cloister around the monastery garden.
Etymology
Latin claustrum named an enclosure, later a monastic area closed to laypeople. The English word narrowed to the covered walk around such a religious enclosure, where monks could exercise and take recreation.
In context
there passed through the cloister some sunburned monk, soiled mattock or shovel in hand
More examples
- Rain falls in the courtyard, but the cloister stays dry.
- Stone arches line the convent's peaceful cloister.
- She cloisters herself in her room to finish writing.
Forms
cloister · cloisters · cloistered · cloistering
Similar words
- arcade
- An arched passageway, not necessarily around a religious courtyard.
- colonnade
- A row of columns, not necessarily enclosing a courtyard walkway.