hermit

[hur-mit]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hermit ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who has withdrawn to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion.

any person living in seclusion; recluse.

Zoology. an animal of solitary habits.

Ornithology. any of numerous hummingbirds of the genera Glaucis and Phaethornis, having curved bills and dull-colored rather than iridescent plumage.

a spiced molasses cookie often containing raisins or nuts.

Obsolete. a beadsman.

Origin of hermit

1175–1225; Middle English ermite, hermite, heremite < Old French < Late Latin erēmīta < Greek erēmītḗs living in a desert, equivalent to erḗm(ia) desert (derivative of erêmos desolate) + -ītēs -ite¹

Related formsher·mit·ic, her·mit·i·cal, her·mit·ish, adjectiveher·mit·i·cal·ly, adverbher·mit·like, adjectiveher·mit·ry, her·mit·ship, nounun·her·mit·ic, adjectiveun·her·mit·i·cal, adjectiveun·her·mit·i·cal·ly, adverb

Synonyms for hermit

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hermit ON THESAURUS.COM

1. eremite, monastic, anchorite, cenobite.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for hermit

recluse, solitary, misanthrope, skeptic, ascetic, solitaire, eremite, anchorite, stylite

Examples from the Web for hermit

Contemporary Examples of hermit

The FBI and the President may claim that the Hermit Kingdom is to blame for the most high-profile network breach in forever.
No, North Korea Didn’t Hack Sony
Marc Rogers
December 24, 2014
How ironic that the Hermit Kingdom is taking the blame for our first real look inside a clique that not even Vice dares penetrate.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack
James Poulos
December 19, 2014
Someone called him a hermit crab lurking in the halls of the United Nations.
The Man Who Invented the Word ‘Genocide’
Nina Strochlic
November 19, 2014
The Hermit Kingdom has opened its embassy doors for an exhibit highlighting the work of six artists from its state-run studio.
North Korea’s Propaganda Art Exhibit in London
Nico Hines
November 6, 2014
Considering the grand tradition of un-predictability in the Hermit Kingdom, there are countless other possibilities.
Gout or Out: North Korea’s No-Show Leader Keeps ‘Em Guessing
Kevin Bleyer
October 11, 2014

Historical Examples of hermit

So he became again a hermit, as in the early days at Brienne school.
The Boy Life of Napoleon
Eugenie Foa
"I prefer Beattie's Hermit to all other hermits," said Leonora.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
"It's lonesome enough for any sort of a hermit," said Fenn, as he paused and looked about him.
Frank Roscoe's Secret
Allen Chapman
His cabin is multiplied into a hamlet, and his hermit life is gone.
St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. V, August, 1878, No 10.
Various
So seven years passed in the Monastery and thirteen in his hermit's cell.
Father Sergius
Leo Tolstoy

British Dictionary definitions for hermit

hermit

noun

one of the early Christian recluses

any person living in solitude

Derived Formshermitic or hermitical, adjectivehermitically, adverbhermit-like, adjective

Word Origin for hermit

C13: from Old French hermite, from Late Latin erēmīta, from Greek erēmitēs living in the desert, from erēmia desert, from erēmos lonely

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 hermit

early 12c., "religious recluse," from Old French (h)eremite, from Late Latin ermita, from Greek eremites, literally "person of the desert," from eremia "desert, solitude," from eremos "uninhabited, empty, desolate, bereft," from PIE *ere- (2) "to separate" (cf. Latin rete "net," Lithuanian retis "sieve"). Transferred sense of "person living in solitude" is from 1799. The hermit crab (1735) was so called for its solitary habits.