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recluse

[ noun rek-loos, ri-kloos; adjective ri-kloos, rek-loos ]
/ noun ˈrɛk lus, rɪˈklus; adjective rɪˈklus, ˈrɛk lus /
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noun

a person who lives in seclusion or apart from society, often for religious meditation.
Also incluse. a religious voluntary immured in a cave, hut, or the like, or one remaining within a cell for life.

adjective re·cluse [ri-kloos, rek-loos] /rɪˈklus, ˈrɛk lus/. Also re·clu·sive.

shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion, often for religious reasons.
characterized by seclusion; solitary.

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RELATED WORDS

hermit, solitary, cenobite, monk, nun, ascetic, solitaire, troglodyte, eremite, anchorite

Nearby words

  1. reclinate,
  2. reclination,
  3. recline,
  4. recliner,
  5. reclosable,
  6. reclusion,
  7. reclusive,
  8. reco-reco,
  9. recognise,
  10. recognition

Origin of recluse

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French reclus < Late Latin reclūsus, past participle of reclūdere to shut up, equivalent to re- re- + -clūd-, combining form of claudere to close + -tus past participle suffix, with dt > s
Related formsnon·re·clu·sive, adjectiveun·re·cluse, adjectiveun·re·clu·sive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for recluse

British Dictionary definitions for recluse

recluse

/ (rɪˈkluːs) /

noun

a person who lives in seclusion
a person who lives in solitude to devote himself to prayer and religious meditation; a hermit, anchorite, or anchoress

adjective

solitary; retiring
Derived Formsreclusion (rɪˈkluːʒən), nounreclusive, adjective

Word Origin for recluse

C13: from Old French reclus, from Late Latin reclūdere to shut away, from Latin re- + claudere to close
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 recluse

recluse

n.

c.1200, "person shut up from the world for purposes of religious meditation," from Old French reclus (fem. recluse) "hermit, recluse," also "confinement, prison; convent, monastery," noun use of reclus (adj.) "shut up," from Late Latin reclusus, past participle of recludere "to shut up, enclose" (but in classical Latin "to throw open"), from Latin re-, intensive prefix, + claudere "to shut" (see close (v.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper