anchorite
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek ἀναχωρητής (anakhōrētḗs, “anchoret”), from ἀναχωρέω (anakhōréō, “I withdraw, retire”), via Latin anchorēta, a variant of anachorēta (“anchorite”).
Pronunciation
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
anchorite (plural anchorites)
- One who lives in isolation or seclusion, especially for religious reasons.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 16, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- 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.
- 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.
Related terms
- anchoress (feminine gender)
Translations
one who lives in seclusion
|
