Wiktionary

anchorite

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Ancient Greek ἀναχωρητής (anakhōrētḗs, “anchoret”), from ἀναχωρέω (anakhōréō, “I withdraw, retire”), via Latin anchorēta, a variant of anachorēta (“anchorite”). By surface analysis, anchor +‎ -ite.

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Noun

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anchorite (plural anchorites)

  1. One who lives in isolation or seclusion, especially for religious reasons; hermit.
    Synonyms: (obsolete) anchor, anchorist, eremite, hermit, recluse
    Coordinate term: (feminine) anchoress
    • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:
      Oh, hang him? He's a very Anchorite—a young Hermit!
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
      The household was diminished, and its expenses curtailed. There was a very blank anchorite repast when Pen dined from home: and he himself headed the remonstrance from the kitchen regarding the deteriorated quality of the Fairoaks beer.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVI, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      The preposterous altruism too! […] Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.
    • 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter XXI, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
      “Haven't you been in love since you came to Paris?”
      “I haven't got time for that sort of nonsense. Life isn't long enough for love and art.”
      “Your appearance doesn't suggest the anchorite.”
    • 1950, Will Durant, The Age of Faith, Simon and Schuster,, page 792:
      About 1150 some Palestinian anchorites adopted the eremitical rule of St. Basil, and spread throughout Palestine; when the Moslems captured the Holy Land these "Carmelites" migrated to Cyprus, Sicily, France, and England.

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