anchoress

American  

[ang-ker-is] / ˈæŋ kər ɪs /

noun

1. a woman who is an anchorite.

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Gender

What's the difference between anchoress and anchor? See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of anchoress

First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English anchoryse, Middle English ankres, equivalent to ancre anchorite + -es -ess

Example Sentences

Julian lived as an anchoress, a type of religious hermit, and was likely bricked up inside a small stone cell during her 40-odd years of monastic life.

From New York Times • Jan. 21, 2011

I'll not go back to my anchoress lodge in the north till I see what works out of them!

From The Herd Boy and His Hermit by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

The country was full of devotees who had taken religious vows, which they fulfilled either in the many monasteries and convents, or often in single cells, as "hermit" or "anchoress."

From Mysticism in English Literature by Spurgeon, Caroline F. E.

Joan Sperry, nun of Clementhorpe, was anchoress at Beeston near Leeds in 1322, and in 1348 Margaret la Boteler, nun of Hampole, was anchoress at the chapel of East Layton, Yorks.

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen

Could any words more completely express the infinity of love's desire, ever unsatisfied even in possession, than does this love-cry from the heart of Julian the anchoress of Norwich?

From Mysticism in English Literature by Spurgeon, Caroline F. E.