cloistered

Cloistered is an adjective describing someone living a life separated from the outside world, typically within a monastery or convent, or more generally a life of seclusion. It can refer to physical enclosure—the use of a cloister, a covered walkway around a courtyard, as part of monastic architecture—or to the broader concept of deliberate withdrawal from secular society. The word derives from Old French cloistre, from Latin claustrum, meaning a barrier or lock, related to claudere "to shut."

In monastic contexts, cloistered orders or communities are those whose members take vows of enclosure, restricting contact with non-monastic society. Cloistered life emphasizes contemplative prayer and study, with limited circulation outside the walls; contact with the outside world may be restricted to occasional liturgical processions, correspondence, or specified work such as copying manuscripts or producing goods for sustenance. Notable cloistered orders include branches of the Catholic tradition such as Carthusians, Trappists (Cistercians), and various nuns like the Poor Clares and some Benedictine communities. Some orders are strictly cloistered, while others are semi-cloistered, allowing limited external interaction under rules determined by their superiors.

Historically, cloistered life was a common form of religious vocation in medieval Europe, shaping gendered spaces within monasteries and convents, and influencing architecture, art, and scholarship. In modern times, cloistered life remains central to some religious communities, though the degree of enclosure varies. Outside religious usage, "cloistered" can describe any person or place in deliberate seclusion or isolation.