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

The townsmen of Gratz, hoarse-voiced touzleheads mostly, divined her to be an anchoress, a saint, or an unfortunate.

From The Life and Death of Richard Yea-and-Nay by Hewlett, Maurice Henry

“A peering anchoress, who is always thrusting her head outward, is like an untamed bird in a cage,” says the good bishop.

From English Villages by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

Her purity led her own mother to speak other as an "anchoress."

From The Loves of Great Composers by Kobbé, Gustav

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