CONCLAVE, noun [Latin , an inner room; a key, or from the same root, to make fast.]

1. A private apartment, particularly the room in which the Cardinals of the Romish church meet in privacy, for the eletion of a Pope. It consists of a range of small cells or apartments, standing in a line along the galleries and hall of the Vatican.

2. The assembly or meeting of the Cardinals, shut up for the election of a Pope.

3. A private meeting; a close assembly.