CELL signifies also a small apartment or chamber, such as those in which the ancient monks, solitaries, and hermits, lived in retirement. Some derive the word from the Hebrew אֶרֶץ, meaning a prison, or place where any thing is shut up. The same name is still retained in different monasteries. The dormitory is frequently divided into so many cells or lodges. The Carthusians have each a separate house, which serves them as a cell. The hall in which the Roman conclave is held is divided by partitions into different cells, for the several cardinals to lodge in.