Clois'ter1, n.
n. [O. Fr. cloistre, N. Fr. cloître, Sp. claustro, claustra, It. claustro, chiostro, chiostra, Pr. claustra, A-S. clauster, clûster, Ger. kloster, from Lat. claustrum, pl. claustra, from claudere, clausum, to close, to shut.]
Sense 1. A covered arcade, forming part of a monastic or collegiate establishment, surrounding the inner quadrangular area of the buildings, with numerous large windows looking into the quadrangle.
☞ The cloisters were appropriated for the recreation of the inmates of the establishment; sometimes, also, as places of study: they likewise served as passages of communication between the different buildings. Oxf. Gloss.
But let my due feet never fail To walk the studious cloister’s pale. Milton.
Our cloister echoed frosty feet. Tennyson.
Sense 2. A monastic establishment; a place for retirement from the world for religious duties. “Fitter for a cloister than a crown.” Daniel.
Synonyms—CLOISTER, MONASTERY, NUNNERY, CONVENT, ABBEY, PRIORY. Cloister is the generic term, and denotes a place of seclusion from the world. A monastery is a place for men, called monks. A nunnery is always for women, called nuns. A convent is an assemblage or community of recluses. An abbey and a priory are named from their heads, an abbot or a prior.