claustrum

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin claustrum (“a bolt, bar”). Doublet of cloister.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈklɔːstɹəm/

Noun

claustrum (plural claustra)

1. (neuroanatomy) A thin, irregular sheet of grey matter underneath the inner part of the neocortex on both sides of the brains of mammals; its exact function is not understood, but it is believed to facilitate coordination between senses
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:claustrum.

Related terms

• claustral
• claustrophobia
• claustrophilia

Translations

sheet of grey matter

• Finnish: aivomuuri
• German: Vormauer f, Claustrum n
• Italian: claustro m
• Latin: claustrum n (New Latin)
• Polish: przedmurze (pl) n
• Russian: огра́да (ru) f (ográda)

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *klaudtrom, from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂ud- (“key, hook, nail”) + *-trom (“instrumental suffix”). Equivalent to claud- (“to close, enclose”) +‎ -trum.

Related to Latin clāvis (“key”), clāvus (“nail, peg”), claustra (“dam, wall, barricade, stronghold”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κλείς (kleís, “bar, bolt, key”), Old High German slioȥan (“to close, conclude, lock”), Old Saxon slūtan (“to close, conclude, lock”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkɫau̯s.trũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈklau̯s.trum]

Noun

claustrum n (genitive claustrī); second declension

1. (rare, usually in the plural) a bar, band, bolt
2. gate, door, bulwark
3. enclosure (confined space)
4. cloister (especially in plural)
5. (Medieval Latin) portion of monastery closed off to laity
6. (New Latin) claustrum (thin lamina of grey matter in each cerebral hemisphere of the human brain)

Usage notes

• Singular forms are almost never encountered; this noun is usually plural.

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	claustrum	claustra
genitive	claustrī	claustrōrum
dative	claustrō	claustrīs
accusative	claustrum	claustra
ablative	claustrō	claustrīs
vocative	claustrum	claustra

Related terms

• claudō
• claustra
• claustrālis
• claustrāliter
• clāvis
• clāvus

Descendants

Through Vulgar *clōstrum (and its plural *clōstra ):

• Italo-Dalmatian:
  • Italian: chiostro, chiostra
  • Venetan: conostro (Belluno), giostro
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Friulian: clostri
  • Romansh: caluster, caluoster, culuoster
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Old Lombard: chiostre (Milan)
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: cllioutre (Aosta)
  • Old French: cloistre (see there for further descendants)

Borrowings:

• Early (mostly through the Vulgar form):
  • Post-Proto-West Germanic:
    • → Old English: clauster, clūstor
    • → Old Frisian: klāster
      • West Frisian: kleaster
    • → Old Saxon: *klōstar
      • Middle Low German: klôster
        • Plautdietsch: Kloosta
        • → Estonian: klooster
        • → Latvian: klosteris
    • → Old Dutch: *clōster
      • Middle Dutch: clôoster
        • Dutch: klooster
        • Limburgish: kloeaster
    • → Old High German: klōstar
      • Middle High German: klōster
        • Alemannic German: Chlooster
        • Bavarian: Klosta
        • German: Kloster (see there for further descendants)
        • Luxembourgish: Klouschter
        • → Czech: klášter (see there for further descendants)
        • → Slovak: kláštor
• Later:
  • → Catalan: claustre
  • → English: claustrum
  • → Friulian: claustri
  • → Galician: claustro, caustra (semi-learned)
  • → Hungarian: klastrum, kalastorom, kolostor
  • → Italian: claustro
  • → Occitan: claustra, clastra (semi-learned)
  • → Old Norse: klaustr
    • Icelandic: klaustur
    • Faroese: kleystur
    • Norwegian: kloster
    • Old Swedish: kloster, kløster
      • Swedish: kloster
      • → Finnish: luostari
    • Danish: kloster
  • → Polish: claustrum, klaustrum
  • → Portuguese: claustro
  • → Romanian: claustru
  • → Romansh: claustra, clostra (semi-learned)
  • → Spanish: claustro

See also

• claustra

References

• “claustrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “claustrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "claustrum", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “claustrum”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to break down the gates: claustra portarum revellere
    
• “claustrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• claustrum in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “claustrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin