cloister
/ˈklɔɪstə/
UK: /ˈklɔɪstə/
cloister
English
Noun Top 34,435
Ad
Definition
A covered walk with an open colonnade on one side, running along the walls of buildings that surround a quadrangle; especially:
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.
Ad