CLOISTERING
Verb
cloistering
present participle of cloister
Source: Wiktionary
CLOISTER
Clois"ter, n. Etym: [OF. cloistre, F. cloître, 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. 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.]
Definition: To confine in, or as in, a cloister; to seclude from the world;
to immure.
None among them are throught worthy to be styled religious persons
but those that cloister themselves up in a monastery. Sharp.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition