definitions

eremite

[ er-uh-mahyt ]
/ ˈɛr əˌmaɪt /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR eremite ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a hermit or recluse, especially one under a religious vow.

RELATED WORDS

priest, abbot, friar, hermit, recluse, solitary, cenobite, brother, ascetic, religious, monastic, anchorite, monk, nun, solitaire, troglodyte, misanthrope, skeptic, stylite

Nearby words

erector, erector muscle of hair, erector muscle of spine, erector set, erelong, eremite, eremitic, eremophilous, eremophyte, eremurus, erenburg

Origin of eremite

1150–1200; Middle English < Late Latin erēmīta hermit
Related formser·e·mit·ic [er-uh-mit-ik] /ˌɛr əˈmɪt ɪk/, er·e·mit·i·cal, er·e·mit·ish [er-uh-mahy-tish] /ˈɛr əˌmaɪ tɪʃ/, adjectiveer·e·mit·ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for eremite

British Dictionary definitions for eremite

eremite

/ (ˈɛrɪˌmaɪt) /

noun

a Christian hermit or recluseCompare coenobite
Derived Formseremitic (ˌɛrɪˈmɪtɪk) or eremitical, adjectiveeremitism (ˈɛrɪmaɪˌtɪzəm), noun

Word Origin for eremite

C13: see hermit
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for eremite

eremite

n.

c.1200, learned form of hermit (q.v.), from Church Latin eremita. Since mid-17c. in poetic or rhetorical use only, except in reference to specific examples in early Church history. Related: Eremitic; eremitical.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper