Main Entry: chan·cery
Pronunciation: 'chan(t)-s&-rE, 'chan(t)s-rE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -cer·ies
Etymology: Middle English chancerie, alteration of chancellerie chancellery, from Old French, from chancelier
Date: 1553
1 a : capitalized : a high court of equity in England and Wales with common-law functions and jurisdiction over causes in equity b : a court of equity in the American judicial system c : the principles and practice of judicial equity
2 : a record office for public archives or those of ecclesiastical, legal, or diplomatic proceedings
3 a : a chancellor's court or office or the building in which it is located b : the office in which the business of a Roman Catholic diocese is transacted and recorded c : the office of an embassy : CHANCELLERY 3
- in chancery 1 : in litigation in a court of chancery also : under the superintendence of the lord chancellor <a ward in chancery> 2 : in a hopeless predicament
Main Entry: [1]clois·ter
Pronunciation: 'kloi-st&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English cloistre, from Old French, from Medieval Latin claustrum, from Latin, bar, bolt, from claudere to close —more at CLOSE
Date: 13th century
1 a : a monastic establishment b : an area within a monastery or convent to which the religious are normally restricted c : monastic life d : a place or state of seclusion
2 : a covered passage on the side of a court usually having one side walled and the other an open arcade or colonnade