cloister

n. convent; monastery; covered walkway

v. shut away; shut up in a convent or monastery

A cloister (from Latin claustrum) is a part of cathedral, monastic and abbey architecture. A cloister consists usually of four corridors, with a courtyard or garth in the middle. It is intended to be both covered from the rain, but open to the air. The attachment of a cloister to a Cathedral church usually indicates that it is (or was once) a monastic foundation.
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Noun
1. residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery)
(synonym) religious residence
(hypernym) residence
(hyponym) convent
2. a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions)
(hypernym) court, courtyard
(classification) religion, faith, religious belief
Verb
1. surround with a cloister, as of a garden
(hypernym) surround, environ, encircle, circle, round, ring
2. seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister; "She cloistered herself in the office"
(hypernym) isolate, insulate
(derivation) religious residence

(v. t.)
To confine in, or as in, a cloister; to seclude from the world; to immure.
  

(v. t.)
the series of such passages on the different sides of any court, esp. that of a monastery or a college.
  

(v. t.)
An inclosed place.
  

(v. t.)
A monastic establishment; a place for retirement from the world for religious duties.
  

(v. t.)
A covered passage or ambulatory on one side of a court;
  

To dream of a cloister, omens dissatisfaction with present surroundings, and you will soon seek new environments. For a young woman to dream of a cloister, foretells that her life will be made unselfish by the chastening of sorrow.