A term taken from the Latin phrase "a closed number", denoting a quota or restriction on the number of persons admitted to an institution, occupation, or an institution of any kind. The concept was invoked mainly with respect to the admission of Jews to universities and high schools in Europe from the late nineteenth century. In the inter-war period, the numerus clausus restriction was applied mainly in Eastern Europe. The Nazis employed the term in the first years of their regime, when Jewish admission to general schools was restricted. Later Jews were barred from these schools altogether.
