CELL (cella, from celare to conceal), in ancient
writers, a place or apartment, usually under ground, and
vaulted, in which were stored up wine, honey, oil, and pro-
visions generally; and according to which it was called
cella vinaria, mellaria, olearia, &c. Cella also denoted
a room in a brothel, as being anciently in underground
vaults, and hence also denominated fornix. It was also
applied to the dormitories of slaves and menials. Cicero,
inveighing against the luxury of Antony, says, the beds in
the very cellæ of his servants were spread with pompous
purple coverlets. The word was further applied to the
apartments of baths. Of these there were three principal
ones, frigidaria, tepidaria, and caldaria. See BATHS. It
likewise signified the adytum, or part of a temple in which
the image of the god stood.
Cella was also used for a lesser or subordinate monastery
dependent on a great one. Most of the great abbeys in
England had cells in places distant from the mother abbey.
The alien priories in England were cells to abbeys in Nor-
mandy, France, or Italy. The name of cell was sometimes
applied to independent monasteries.