anchorite
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of anchorite
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English anc(h)orite, anachorite, ancorite, conflation of Middle English ancre (from Old English ancra, ancer ) and Old French anacorite or Late Latin anachōrīta, anachōrēta, from Late Greek anachōrētḗs, agent noun derivative of anachōreîn “to withdraw” + -tēs agent suffix
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Her subsequent eviction from the Beguines leads to her accepting the Bishop’s offer of sanctuary — as an anchorite, destined to live out her days in a tiny stone outcropping.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026
She’d patterned the rooms after anchorite cells, bare stone and lines, so all you had to think about was the communion.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2022
But Hardulph would not have been a hermit in the colloquial sense; he would have been an anchorite, meaning that he would have been anchored to the church and may have had disciples, Simons explained.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 17, 2021
In the 1970s, commercial plywood caught Judd’s eye and he used it in a suite of boxy sculptures that look like a cross between shipping containers and anchorite cells.
From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2020
Sometimes I play chess with one of my colleagues, an anchorite like myself, who suffers from post-polio syndrome.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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