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conclave.

The set of apartments in which cardinals are secluded while the process to elect a pope takes place.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkɒnkleɪv/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɒŋ-/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɑnˌkleɪv/General-American/ˈkɑŋ-/General-American
  1. The set of apartments in which cardinals are secluded while the process to elect a pope takes place.

  2. A group of cardinals assembled to elect a new pope.

  3. A group of cardinals assembled to elect a new pope. The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church collectively.

    broadly
  4. A closed assembly at which cardinals elect a pope.

    in conclave
    papal conclave
  5. A closed assembly at which cardinals elect a pope. A closed, private, or secret meeting, especially one of an ecclesiastical nature.

    broadly
  6. A private chamber or room.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

PIE word *ḱóm The noun is derived from Late Middle English conclave (“private chamber; (Roman Catholicism) private room where election of the Pope takes place; meeting held for this purpose”), borrowed from Middle French conclave (modern French conclave), or directly from its etymon Latin conclāve (“chamber, room; enclosed space that can be locked; dining hall”), from con- (prefix denoting a being or bringing together of several objects) (combining form of cum (“(along) with”)) + clāvis (“key”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- (“(noun) crook, hook; peg; (verb) to close”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

verb/ˈkɒnkleɪv/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɒŋ-/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɑnˌkleɪv/General-American/ˈkɑŋ-/General-American
  1. To participate in a closed, private, or secret meeting.

    intransitive
  2. Of a cardinal: to attend a closed assembly to elect a pope.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

PIE word *ḱóm The noun is derived from Late Middle English conclave (“private chamber; (Roman Catholicism) private room where election of the Pope takes place; meeting held for this purpose”), borrowed from Middle French conclave (modern French conclave), or directly from its etymon Latin conclāve (“chamber, room; enclosed space that can be locked; dining hall”), from con- (prefix denoting a being or bringing together of several objects) (combining form of cum (“(along) with”)) + clāvis (“key”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- (“(noun) crook, hook; peg; (verb) to close”)). The verb is derived from the noun.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.