An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Klause

by Friedrich Kluge

Klause, feminine, ‘cell,’ from Middle High German klûse, klûs, feminine, ‘hermitage, cell,’ also ‘monastery,’ Old High German chlûsa. Middle Latin clausa, clusa, clausum, closum, with the meanings ‘locus seu ager sepibus vel muris septus aut clausus,’ also ‘monastery’; hence the High German word is based on clusa, which is a later participial form, due to clûsus, the participle of the compounds of claudere, in place of the earlier clausus (compare Italian chiusa). On the other hand, Middle High German klôse, klôs, feminine, ‘hermitage, monastery,’ with the derivative klôsenœre, ‘hermit’ (compare Middle Latin clausarius, ‘monk,’ but clûsinaria, feminine, ‘virgo deo sacra reclusa’), is based on Middle Latin clausa, *clôsa (compare clôsum). The Middle High German meanings of klôse, klûse, ‘rocky cleft, defile, ravine,’ are connected with Middle Latin clûsa, ‘angustus montium aditus.’ Compare also Kloster, Anglo-Saxon clûs, feminine, ‘cell.’