claustrum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈkɫau̯s.trũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈklau̯s.trum]^[1]

Forms

claustrum n (genitive claustrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from claudō “to shut” with the instrumental suffix -trum, from Proto-Italic *klaudtrom, from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂ud- (“key, hook”).^[2][1] A spelling ⟨clostrum⟩ also occurs.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus, of a bolt.^[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant a bolt or bar for a door, in Ovid a key, and a confining place, a cage or prison, as in Virgil, and the starting gates of a racecourse.^[2] It meant a position that controls access to a country, a “key”, as in Cicero, a pass or strait, as in Livy and Virgil, and a natural or artificial barrier.^[2] It is used mostly in the plural claustra.^[4] Döderlein says sera is a movable bar, claustrum a bolt fixed to the door.^[5]

In Christian and Medieval Latin it meant a cloister, monastery, the buildings of a monastic community, and figuratively the confinement of the flesh or the bolts of heaven and hell.^[6][7][8] It survives in Italian chiostro and Old French cloistre.^[1] Through Old French it is the source of English cloister in the early 13th century.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a bolt.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a key position.^[2][3]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a prison and a strait.^[2][3]
• early 13th century – English cloister is recorded.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bolt, bar; a key.^[2]
2. An enclosure, cage, prison.^[2]
3. A key position; a pass, strait.^[2]
4. A barrier.^[2]
5. (Medieval Latin) A cloister, monastery.^[7][6]

Word family

• claustellum
• claustrārius
• claustritumus

Related words

• claudō
• claustra
• claustrālis
• claustrāliter
• clāvis
• clāvus
• English cloister

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com