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conclave - 4 dictionary results
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con⋅clave

  [kon-kleyv, kong-]
Use conclave in a Sentence
–noun
1. a private or secret meeting.
2. an assembly or gathering, esp. one that has special authority, power, or influence: a conclave of political leaders.
3. the assembly or meeting of the cardinals for the election of a pope.
4. the body of cardinals; the College of Cardinals.
5. the place in which the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church meet in private for the election of a pope.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < ML, L conclāve room, enclosed space, repr. (camera) cum clāve (room) with key. See con-, clef
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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con·clave   (kŏn'klāv', kŏng'-)   
n.  
  1. A secret or confidential meeting.
  2. Roman Catholic Church
    1. The private rooms in which the cardinals meet to elect a new pope.
    2. The meeting held to elect a new pope.
  3. A meeting of family members or associates.

[Middle English, private chamber, conclave of cardinals, from Latin conclāve, lockable room : com-, com- + clāvis, key.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Conclave

Con"clave\ (? or ?; 277), n. [F., fr. L. conclave a room that may locked up; con- + clavis key. See Clavicle.]

1. The set of apartments within which the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church are continuously secluded while engaged in choosing a pope.

2. The body of cardinals shut up in the conclave for the election of a pope; hence, the body of cardinals.

It was said a cardinal, by reason of his apparent likelihood to step into St. Peter's chair, that in two conclaves he went in pope and came out again cardinal. --South.

3. A private meeting; a close or secret assembly.

The verdicts pronounced by this conclave (Johnson's Club) on new books, were speedily known over all London. --Macaulay.

To be in conclave, to be engaged in a secret meeting; -- said of several, or a considerable number of, persons.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : conclave
Spanish: cónclave,
German: geheime Sitzung,
Japanese: 秘密会議
More Translations »

conclave 
1393, from It., from L. conclave "a room which may be locked," from com- "together" + clavis "a key" (see slot (2)). Earliest use is "a place where cardinals meet to elect a pope." Extended sense of "private assembly" is first recorded 1568.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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