Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON'CLAVE, n. [L. conclave, an inner room; con and clavis, 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 election of a Pope. It consists of a range of small cells, or apartments, standing in a line along the galleries and ball of the Vatican. – Encyc.
2. The assembly or meeting of the Cardinals, shut up for the election of a Pope. – Encyc.
3. A private meeting; a close assembly. – Garth.