hermit
nounUS /ˈhɝmɪt/ · UK /ˈhɜːmɪt/
Etymology From Middle English hermite, heremite, eremite, from Old French eremite, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin eremita, from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmítēs, “person of the desert”) from ἐρημία (erēmía, “desert, solitude”), from ἔρημος (érēmos) or ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “uninhabited”) plus -ίτης (-ítēs, “one connected to, a member of”). Doublet of eremite. Displaced native Old English ānsetla.
1
A religious recluse; someone who lives alone for religious reasons; an eremite.
2
A recluse; someone who lives alone and shuns human companionship.
- Solitary the thrush, / The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements, / Sings by himself a song.1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:
- Millie told him he sounded like some batty hermit who lived in a cave.2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 184:
3
A spiced cookie made with molasses, raisins, and nuts.
4
A hermit crab.
- Because hermits are decapods and do not live within their own shells, they are not considered to be true crabs.2016, Vicki Judah, Kathy Nuttall, Exotic Animal Care and Management, page 279:
5
Any in the subfamily Phaethornithinae of hummingbirds.
- Derived terms
29 terms
bald-headed hermit, garden hermit, hermie, hermitage, hermitary, hermit-bird, hermit crab, hermit-crow, hermitess, hermithood, hermitic, hermitical, hermitically, hermitish, hermitism, hermitization, hermitize, hermit kingdom, hermitlike, hermitness, hermitry, hermitship, hermit thrush, hermitty, hermitude, hermit warbler, house hermit, ornamental hermit, thinstripe hermit- Related terms
- monachos, monk