chiostra

Forms

chiostra f (plural chiostre)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin claustra (“bars; enclosure”), the neuter plural of claustrum (“bar, barrier”), which gave chiostro.^[2][3][4][5] The plural was taken in Italian as a feminine singular with a collective sense.^[6][7] That noun is from claudō (“to close”).^[2][1] Isidore of Seville already explained the plural as named from their being closed.^[8]

The LEI notes that the feminine from the neuter plural is also found in Old Occitan claustra (1191) and in Engadine as Romansh clostra (“monastery”).^[9] DEI compares Lombard sciostra (“yard for timber and stone”) and Medieval Latin chiostra (“enclosed place”), recorded at Siena in 1285.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the Pisan poet Panuccio del Bagno, before 1276, with the sense “enclosure, shelter, fenced place”.^[2][11] The TLIO's first sense is an enclosing ring: a wall, iron bars or hedges round a town or property, or a ring of mountains or hills round a region.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the word also meant a closed space such as a courtyard or a secluded spot, a region or country, the heavens (superna chiostra), a convent, and figuratively a sphere of power.^[11] Dante used it for the circles of Hell, as in l'ultima chiostra / di Malebolge, and for the convent from which Piccarda was taken: fuor mi rapiron de la dolce chiostra.^[8][12][3]

The phrase chiostra dei denti, the arched row of the teeth, renders the Vulgate's oris claustra and Homer's Ancient Greek ἕρκος ὀδόντων (hérkos odóntōn, “fence of the teeth”), and Pindemonte used it.^[10][5] In the 15th century Pisan chiostra was the inner courtyard of a private house, and Tommaseo noted that at Livorno it still meant the open space within houses that the Florentines called corte.^[10][12]

Today the word is literary, for an enclosure or a ring of mountains or other things, and as an old word for a cloister.^[3][4][13]

Timeline

• Before 1276 – Panuccio del Bagno uses chiostra for an enclosure.^[2][11]
• 1285 – Medieval Latin chiostra is recorded at Siena.^[10]
• Before 1313 – GRADIT's first date for the word.^[3]
• 15th century – Pisan chiostra means an inner courtyard of a house.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) An enclosure, a closed and fenced place.^[3][13][5]
2. (literary) A ring of things around a space: una chiostra di colline: chiostra dei denti is the arched row of the teeth.^[3][4][5]
3. A circular space or hollow, in Dante one of the circles of Hell.^[3][5]
4. (archaic) A cloister or convent.^[3][4][13]

Word family

• chiostrina

Related words

• chiostro
• chiudere
• claustrale
• Latin claustrum

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e f g h De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 14, 1243
10. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 907
11. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
12. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
13. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli