cloister
/ˈklɔɪstɚ/noun, verb
cloister is spelled C-L-O-I-S-T-E-R: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cloister means “such an arcade in a monastery” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cloister is cloisters.
How many letters and syllables are in cloister?
| Letters | 8: C-L-O-I-S-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 39,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cloister?
Cloister appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cloister?
- UK /ˈklɔɪstə/
- US /ˈklɔɪstɚ/
- Australia /ˈkloɪstə/
Cloister has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-cloister.ogg, En-au-cloister.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cloister?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cloister from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɪstəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cloister
- cloisters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cloistering participle, present
- cloistered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cloister mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
such an arcade in a monastery;
- 2
such an arcade fitted with representations of the stages of Christ's Passion.
- 3
A place, especially a monastery or convent, devoted to religious seclusion.
- 4
The monastic life.
verb
- 1
To become a Roman Catholic religious.
- 2
To confine in a cloister, voluntarily or not.
- 3
To deliberately withdraw from worldly things.
- 4
To provide with a cloister or cloisters.
The architect cloistered the college just like the monastery which founded it.
- 5
To protect or isolate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cloister in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cloître , (la vie des) cloîtres |
| German | Kreuzgang , Klosterleben, Klausur , Kloster |
| Portuguese | claustro , clausura |
| Spanish | claustro , enclaustrar, enceldar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cloister come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).