: to seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister
a scientist who cloisters herself in a laboratory
policy makers are cloistered for the weekend, trying to stave off a default that they fear could trigger an international financial panic Art Pine
2
: to surround with a cloister
cloistered gardens
Did you know?
Cloister first entered the English language as a noun in the 13th century; it referred then (as it still does) to a convent or monastery. More than three centuries later, English speakers began using the verbcloister to mean "to seclude in or as if in a cloister." Today, the noun can also refer to the monastic life or to a covered and usually arched passage along or around a court. You may also encounter cloistered with the meaning "surrounded with a covered passage," as in "cloistered gardens." Cloister ultimately derives from the Latin verb claudere, meaning "to close." Other words that can be traced back to the prolific claudere include close, conclude, exclude, include, preclude, seclude, and recluse.
Certosa di San Giacomo, a 14th-century monastery with a large grassy cloister area and a stunning view of the Mediterranean. Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 29 July 2022 Fourteen years later, Catholic women in Los Angeles raised funds to build the sisters a new cloister, chapel and office complex on the same site, designed by architect Wallace Neff. Deborah Netburnstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2022 The roof surrounded a central cloister in which a pomegranate tree had overgrown its yard.New York Times, 20 Apr. 2022 To their left, a cloister of coniferous trees, swaying in the breeze. Ling Ma, The Atlantic, 16 May 2022 With no straight walls in the entire home, the design is meant to feel like entering some of the most sacred spaces of humankind: a womb, a cloister, a cave. Michaela Trimble, Vogue, 12 May 2022 For me, coming from the hilly cloister of late ’80s Pittsburgh, smokestacked and river-rich, this desert landscape was a lesson in possibility, proof that there were parallel universes beyond my imagining, just as Mom promised.New York Times, 12 May 2022 Silent men were observed about the country, or discovered in the forest, digging, clearing, and building; and other silent men, not seen, were sitting in the cold cloister, . . . Andrew Doran, National Review, 3 Mar. 2022 The ceiling is tall and arched, like the hallways of a cloister, and offers acoustics befitting a motet. Gregory Barber, Wired, 10 Feb. 2022
Verb
With coronavirus infection almost nonexistent in China, according to official statistics, Beijing has no epidemiological reason to cloister Olympic participants. Jonathan Kolatch, WSJ, 13 Oct. 2021 Correctly used, quarantine describes the period of time when people who think they’ve been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 are supposed to cloister themselves—a precaution in case an infection manifests. Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2021 A year of extremes, 2020 has driven some people to claim the streets and others to cloister at home.Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2020 In addition to being cloistered inside with their abuser, job and financial losses can inflame stress. Casey Tolan, CNN, 4 Apr. 2020 Fears of Covid-19 then kept them both cloistered in the mother’s studio apartment. Dan Chiasson, The New York Review of Books, 15 May 2020 Want to take a walk but cloistered inside because of the pandemic? Judith H. Dobrzynski, WSJ, 2 May 2020 As people cloister in their homes and practice social distancing, 72% of domestic workers report being out of work, according to the National Domestic Workers Alliance. Ryan Prior, CNN, 21 Apr. 2020 With folks cloistered at home, there could be some money in delivering for other platforms such as Grubhub or DoorDash. Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English cloistre, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin claustrum, from Latin, bar, bolt, from claudere to close — more at close entry 1