\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.

\Clois"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cloistered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Cloistering}.]
To confine in, or as in, a cloister; to seclude from the
world; to immure.
      None among them are thought worthy to be styled
      religious persons but those that cloister themselves up
      in a monastery.                          --Sharp.