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.
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 foreign ambassadors, took his corporal oath upon the Holy Evangelists to observe the bull to the best of his abilities.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 cxcviii–cxcix:
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: Hookham and Sons, […], →OCLC, book IV (continued), page 44:
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, page 1390, column 1:
[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 mine armes I bid him vvelcome, / And thanke the holy Conclaue for their loues, / They haue ſent me ſuch a Man, I vvould haue vviſh'd for.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), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 214, column 1:
The ſaid Duke Ferdinando [I de’ Medici] vvas reputed a vviſe and vvarie Prince, and it vvas a ſolid vviſdom rather than a Formall. 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 Duke of Tuscany.”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […], London: […] Thomas Maxey, for R[ichard] Marriot, G[abriel] Bedel, and T[imothy] Garthwait, published 1651, →OCLC, page 360:
[W]e find it once said of an eminent Cardinal, by reaſon of his great and apparent Likelihood to ſtep into St. 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 Westminster Abbey, February 22, 1684–5].”, in Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], new edition, volume I, London: […] Thomas Tegg, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 327:
His [Keith O'Brien's] exit came as at least a dozen other cardinals tarnished with accusations that they had failed to remove priests accused of sexually abusing minors were among those gathering in Rome to prepare for the conclave to select a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.2013 February 26, Laurie Goodstein, “Now gathering in Rome, a conclave of fallible cardinals”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Mar 2025:
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 obedience and to ſubmit himſelfe to the king, […]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, →OCLC, page 60:
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, verso, lines 794–797:
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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 Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza XXXII, pages 110–111:
Now you are all dispersed and scattered: no discussions, no committees, little correspondence—and you yourself are ever brooding and ever in conclave, with persons too who I know, for Stephen has told me so, are the preachers of violence: […]1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter III, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 40:
Some of these [friends of Johnson], in 1764, formed themselves into a club, which gradually became a formidable power in the commonwealth of letters. The verdicts pronounced by this conclave on new books were speedily known over all London, and were sufficient to sell off a whole edition in a day, or to condemn the sheets to the service of the trunk-maker and the pastry-cook.1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “[Contributions to the Encyclopædia Britannica.] Samuel Johnson.”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC, page 386:
No one knew that piece of country, and it was vain to expect that they could make the journey entirely without a contretemps of some kind or other. 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 Territory of South Australia, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 104:
[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 his Lordſhip ſaid,) in the ſecret Conclaue of ſuch a vaſt Sea mought cauſe it.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] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 13:
[…] 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 Gregorie, […], 4th edition, London: […] M. Clark, for Rich[ard] Royston […], Benj[amin] Tooke […], and Tho[mas] Sawbridge […], published 1684, →OCLC, page 12:
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[P]lacing the Caſes, Pots, &c. under this Shelter, vvhen either at the firſt Peeping out of the VVinter Concleave, or during the increaſing Heat of Summer, they ſo are ranged and diſpoſed, as to adorn a noble Area of a moſt magnificent Paradiſian Dining-Room to the Top of Hortulean Pomp and Bliſs, ſuperior to all the artificial Furniture of the greateſt Prince's Court.a. 1707 (date written), John Evelyn, “Of the Horn-beam”, in Silva: Or, A Discourse of Forest-trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty’s Dominions: […], London: […] J. Walthoe, […], published 1729, →OCLC, book I, page 49:
[T]he Duchess has fitted up the little room out of her conclave that opens into the garden in the Gothic taste, and made it the prettiest cell you can imagine.1753 November 20 (date written), Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany, “Mrs. Delany to Mrs. Dewes”, in Lady Llanover [i.e., Augusta Hall, Baroness Llanover], editor, The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany: […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1861, →OCLC, page 241:
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.
1
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 breaking stones.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 inferred from the following passage, […]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 Illustrate the Most Useful, Novel, and Interesting Parts of Natural History and Experimental Philosophy, Artistical Processes, Ornamental Manufactures and the Arts of Life, volume IX, London: W. Brittain, →OCLC, page 67, column 1:
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[N]oble Rivaulx' shrine, whose frequent tolling bells / Disturbed our holy conclaved monks in hours of fast and prayer, […]1881, Adra [pseudonym; Edward Fitch], “Calder Abbey: A Legend of the Brothers There”, in Legends of Lakeland, Scarborough, Yorkshire: S. W. Theakston & Co., […], →OCLC, stanza LXXXIV, page 86:
We have learned during the past week that a report of a committee to suggest reorganization of a tariff association is not a source of reorganization alone. It is also a source of as much mysterious head-shaking and secret conclaving as if the esteemed and respectable members of the committee were perpetrators of dark, dank deeds.1899 January 5, “The Week”, in The Chronicle: A Weekly Insurance Journal, volume LXIII, number 4, New York, N.Y.: The Chronicle Company, […], →OCLC, page 37, column 1:
The tenants, conclaving together of an evening on doorsteps, had come to the conclusion that the Universal Thrift Club was the very contrivance which they lacked for years.1911 February 23, Arnold Bennett, “His Burglary”, in The Card: A Story of Adventure in the Five Towns (Methuen’s Colonial Library), 2nd edition, London: Methuen & Co. […], published February 1911, →OCLC, section V, page 148:
The Shrine organization, which staged a similar pageant in 1951 when last they conclaved here, departed from usual policy when it announced this week that the public would be admitted to the spectacle […]1953 July 11, “[Frank] Wirth to Produce Big Show for Shriners’ N.Y. Confab”, in Roger S. Littleford Jr., editor, The Billboard: The Amusement Industry’s Leading Newsweekly, volume 65, number 28, Cincinnati, Oh.: Roger S. Littleford Jr.; William D. Littleford, →OCLC, page 50, column 3:
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: