Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A sleeping-room; a dormitory, especially of a monastery.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun historical A bedroom or dormitory, especially in a monastery.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French dortour (modern dortoir), from Latin dormitorium ‘dormitory’.

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Examples

  • She per formed her duties for Katherine, but when the other ladies in her cousin's dorter showed signs of inter est in her, attracted by her unusual looks and lovely voice, Katherine made sure those duties were kept to a minimum.

    Dearly Beloved 2010

  • Katherine, introducing her to the other ladies in her dorter, omitted to mention their relationship.

    Dearly Beloved 2010

  • She wuz teh optishuns dorter. 2 glassis an she maed a spektaklol uv herselb.

    I see what u did - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2009

  • She wuz teh optishunz dorter – 2 glassis an she maed a spektackul uv herselb

    E - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008

  • Woz prolly mussel chowda taht ur dorter had – we haz naice mussels hea in teh nooziland.

    O Hai …. ur software - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008

  • Facing them, on the South Walk cloister wall, were the remnants of the night stairs from the now vanished dorter.

    Excerpt: The 6th Lamentation by William Brodrick 2003

  • When Anne entered her dorter, she found her fellows in various states of exhaustion, having kept vigil around the 'great bedchamber all through the night.

    The Frozen Heart Cassidy, Laura 1995

  • The ladies of her dorter were envious of her: Ralph Monterey, whom so many had tried to permanently net and been disappointed, was apparently quite smitten with a girl who had been at court for less than two weeks!

    The Frozen Heart Cassidy, Laura 1995

  • As such she often poured out her troubles to him, confided in him where she would not have dreamed of doing so with another lady in her dorter, or even her own brother.

    The Frozen Heart Cassidy, Laura 1995

  • The boys were shown into the guests 'dorter, a long, sunny room with half-a-dozen beds, and with no convent-like austerity about it.

    The Wicked Day Stewart, Mary, 1916- 1983

Comments

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  • "For Cambridge generally, the bells acted as a daytime clock; appointments were made by them, sandglasses turned, business begun and closed; they rang laborers to their fields at Lauds, sent them home at vespers. But their clanging by night allowed sleeping laity the schadenfreude of staying in bed while nuns and monks were having to issue from their cells and dorters to sing vigils."

    Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin, p 276 of the Berkley paperback edition

    February 27, 2012