décloîtrer

A rare, mostly historical and literary verb meaning to release someone from a cloister or monastic confinement — the reverse of cloîtrer — sometimes used figuratively for freeing someone or something from isolation.

• Les révolutionnaires ont décloîtré de nombreux religieux pendant cette période. — The revolutionaries released many members of religious orders from their monasteries during this period.
• Elle rêvait de se décloîtrer et de voir enfin le monde. — She dreamed of freeing herself from confinement and finally seeing the world.
• Ce roman raconte l'histoire d'une nonne décloîtrée au XIXe siècle. — This novel tells the story of a nun released from her convent in the 19th century.

A rare, literary and historical word — a learner will meet it mainly in fiction or history about religious life, not in everyday conversation, where libérer or sortir de would be used instead.

Often confused with cloîtrer.