kloyz
/klɔɪz/
Etymology
From Yiddish קלויז (kloyz), from Middle High German klūse (“hermitage”, by extension “snug, narrow dwelling”), from Old High German klūsa, from Proto-West Germanic *klūsā, from Latin clūsa (“something closed”). Cognate with German Klause, Dutch kluis, Old English clūse.
kloyz means a small private synagogue or circle of religious learning. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 97 out of 100.
kloyz is pronounced /klɔɪz/.
Why “kloyz” is a great word
KLOYZ — [Noun] A small, private synagogue or house of study, particularly one associated with a specific group or scholar in Ashkenazic Jewish tradition. From Yiddish קלויז (kloyz), from Middle High German klūse ("hermitage, cell"), from Old High German klūsa, from Proto-West Germanic *klūsā, from Latin clūsa ("something closed, enclosure"). Unlike a "shtibl"—a room in a home warmed by communal prayer—or a public "synagogue" serving an entire congregation, a kloyz is a dedicated enclosure for the exclusive rigors of study. It is the low murmur of Talmudic debate in a lamplit back room; the scent of old books, beeswax, and winter wool in a space no larger than a cell; the intense fellowship of men bent over a single text—a voluntary hermitage where the world is shut out so that another, older one might be preserved.
noun
- a small private synagogue or circle of religious learning