conclave
Syllables: con·clave/ˈkɒnkleɪv//ˈkɑnˌkleɪv/
conclave noun: the set of apartments in which cardinals are secluded while the process to elect a pope takes place.
Noun
conclave (plural conclaves)
- The set of apartments in which cardinals are secluded while the process to elect a pope takes place.
- On Friday, St. John's Day, the 27th of December, the cardinals entered the conclave. […] Two hours before nightfall, the whole body met again in a chapel within the conclave, and after the bull of pope Julius [II] against simoniacal practices had been read, every cardinal, in the presence of the...1867, J[ohn] S[herren] Brewer, “Introduction”, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII. […], volume III, part I, London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer, →OCLC, pages...
- A group of cardinals assembled to elect a new pope.
- Of the ten Cardinals now forming the Conclave, five voted for Cardinal Geoffredo Castiglione [later Pope Celestine IV], a Milanese, nephew to Urban III, and three for Cardinal Romano [da Porto].1856, Mrs. William Busk [i.e., M. M. Busk], “Frederic II”, in Mediæval Popes, Emperors, Kings, and Crusaders; or, Germany, Italy, and Palestine, from A.D. 1125 to A.D. 1268, volume IV, London...
- Two years afterwards Pius IX died, and the Conclave met in the Vatican to choose his successor. Its deliberations were short.1887 October 15, “Books. Pope Leo XIII. [book review]”, in The Spectator: A Weekly Review of Politics, Literature, Theology, and Art, volume LX, number 3,094, London: […] John Campbell, →ISSN, →OCLC...
- The cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church collectively.
- [Thomas] VVol[sey]. […] Rome (the Nurſe of Iudgement) / Inuited by your Noble ſelfe, hath ſent / One generall Tongue vnto vs. This good man, / This iuſt and learned Prieſt, Cardnall Campeius [Lorenzo Campeggio], / VVhom once more, I preſent vnto your Highneſſe. / Kin[g Henry VIII]. And once more in...1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
- A closed assembly at which cardinals elect a pope.
- in conclave
- papal conclave
- A closed, private, or secret meeting, especially one of an ecclesiastical nature.
- The morrow after which was the thirde daye of the Counſayle, as the Archbiſhop was ſitting beneth in a conclaue with his felow Biſhops about him, conſulting together, the ſayde Biſhops labored by ſundry wayes and meanes, and with verie vehement perſwaſions and learned arguments to wyll him to...1569, Richard Grafton, “Henry the Seconde”, in A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande […], volume II, London: […] Henry Denham, […], for Richarde Tottle and Humffrey Toye...
- The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim / In cloſe receſs and ſecret conclave ſat / A thouſand Demy-Gods on golden ſeat's, / Frequent and full.1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC, signature D...
- A private chamber or room.
- [W]e in Europe, (notvvithſtanding all the remote Diſcoueries, and Nauigations of this laſt Age) neuer heard any of the leaſt Inkling or Glimſe of this Iſland. […] [W]ee neuer heard tell of any Shipp of theirs, that had been ſeene to arriue vpon any ſhore of Europe; […] For the Situation of it (as...1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn]...
- […] John Zonaras [Joannes Zonaras] […] vvriteth […] That the Interpreters of the Lavv [the translators of the Septuagint] vvere divided into couples, and that they vvere placed every one in a ſeveral Conclave: […]a. 1647 (date written), John Gregorie [i.e., John Gregory], “A Discourse of the LXX Interpreters; the Place, and Manner of Their Interpretation”, in The Works of the Reverend and Learned Mr. John...
- Synonyms:
- closet
Verb
conclave (third-person singular simple present conclaves, present participle conclaving, simple past and past participle conclaved)
- To participate in a closed, private, or secret meeting.
- [N]or […] were a group of the miserably destitute ever discovered conclaved gravely in the committee-room, where the Board of Directors are usually occupied in breaking hearts—while the said board were hammering might and main in the yard, where the miserably destitute are usually occupied in...1840 May 1, Lynx [pseudonym], “Being an Anecdotal Introduction to the Third”, in The Comic Novel or Downing St. and the Days of Victoria, […], number IV, London: H. Bailliere, […], →OCLC, page 5
- That Mr. [Frederick Apthorp] Paley is no impassionate member of the Camden Brotherhood, as conclaved at Cambridge,—no luke-warm laggard either in his enthusiastic admiration of Middle-Aged Gothicisms, or in his derisive and unworthy deprecation of "Classic Christianisms," will be immediately...1847, “A Manual of Gothic Architecture. By F. A. Paley, M.A. With Seventy Illustrations. John Van Voorst, Paternoster Row. [book review]”, in The Magazine of Science and School of Arts: Intended to...
- Of a cardinal: to attend a closed assembly to elect a pope.
- At Cardinal Verdi's urging the College of Cardinals at last conclaved behind locked doors, slipping into the heavily guarded Sistine Chapel through the underground tunnels for their deliberations.2002, Brent Dorian Carpenter, “Conclave”, in Man of the Cloth, [Bloomington, Ind.]: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 100
- "Brothers, we have a Pope!" Bennelli exclaimed. "But I request that you remain conclaved, until I consult the man whom we elected. I shall return within the hour."2007, Peter M. Sciarrotta, “Seeing is Believing”, in The Seven Angels of the Apocalypse, 2nd edition, Bloomington, Ind.; Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire: AuthorHouse, →ISBN
conclave meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
conclave in Tamil
- closed assembly at which cardinals elect a pope
- திருத்தந்தைத் தேர்தல் tiruttantait tērtal
conclave in Urdu
- closed assembly at which cardinals elect a pope
- پاپائی جلسۂ انتخاب
conclave in Malayalam
- closed assembly at which cardinals elect a pope
- കോൺക്ലേവ് kōṇklēvŭ
conclave in Kannada
- ಗುಟ್ಟುಕದೆತ
More languagesFewer languages
- conclave in Sinhala
- කොන්ක්ලෙව් konklew
- conclave in Tagalog
- kongklabe
- conclave in Arabic
- المجمع المغلق
- conclave in Malay
- konklaf
- conclave in Indonesian
- konklaf
- conclave in Persian
- مجمع انتخاب پاپ
- conclave in Thai
- การประชุมเลือกสันตะปาปา
- conclave in Vietnamese
- mật nghị hồng y
- conclave in Myanmar
- ပုပ်ရဟန်းမင်းကြီး ရွေးချယ်တင်မြှောက်ပွဲ pup-ra.han:mang:kri: rwe:hkyaitanghmraukpwai:
Examples of conclave in a sentence
- He had been long a Cardinall, and at tvvo or three Conclaves (as they call them) or Elections of Popes.a. 1639 (date written), Henry Wotton, “[Letters, &c. and Characters of Sundry Personages, […].] A Character of Ferdinando di Medici, Gran...
- Peter’s Chair, that in two Conclaves he went in Pope, and came out again Cardinal.1685 March 3 (Gregorian calendar), Robert South, “Sermon VIII. All Contingencies under the Direction of God's Providence [Preached at...
- Appalled the astonished conclave sate; / With stupid eyes, the men of fate / Gazed on the light inspired form, / And listened for the avenging storm; […]1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Second. The Convent.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and...
- Therefore the safe return of the Roper party was the usual topic of our nightly conclaves in the verandah.1887, Mrs. Dominic D[aniel] Daly [i.e., Harriet Douglas Daly], “1870–71”, in Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern...
Synonyms of conclave
Forms of conclave
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | conclaves |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | conclaves |
| present participle | conclaving |
| past participle | conclaved |
| past | conclaved |
Origin of conclave
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.
Words formed from conclave
Questions about conclave
- What does conclave mean?
- Conclave means the set of apartments in which cardinals are secluded while the process to elect a pope takes place.
- What is conclave in Tamil?
- Conclave in Tamil is திருத்தந்தைத் தேர்தல் (tiruttantait tērtal). See Conclave meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use conclave in a sentence?
- He had been long a Cardinall, and at tvvo or three Conclaves (as they call them) or Elections of Popes.
- What part of speech is conclave?
- Conclave can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce conclave?
- Conclave is pronounced /ˈkɒnkleɪv/ (UK).
- What is the plural of conclave?
- The plural of conclave is conclaves.
Words near conclave in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: conclave (page history and authors); conclave (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-conclave.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-conclave.wav.
Cite this entry: “conclave.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/conclave. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.