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stylite

[stahy-lahyt]
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noun Ecclesiastical History.
  1. one of a class of solitary ascetics who lived on the top of high pillars or columns.
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Origin of stylite

1630–40; < Late Greek stȳlī́tēs, equivalent to stŷl(os) pillar + -itēs -ite1
Related formssty·lit·ic [stahy-lit-ik] /staɪˈlɪt ɪk/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for stylite

Historical Examples

  • This old monk was St. Luke the Stylite, appearing in vision.

    Curiosities of Olden Times

    S. Baring-Gould

  • Simeon the Stylite comes down from his pillar-top, and chaffers in the market-place with common folks.

  • He stopped, some paces from the column, and began to examine the stylite, wiping his face meanwhile with the skirt of his toga.

    Thais

    Anatole France

  • A Stylite might have contented himself there; Gilliatt, more luxurious in his requirements, wanted something more commodious.

British Dictionary definitions for stylite

stylite

noun
  1. Christianity one of a class of recluses who in ancient times lived on the top of high pillars
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Derived Formsstylitic (staɪˈlɪtɪk), adjective

Word Origin

C17: from Late Greek stulitēs, from Greek stulos a pillar
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 stylite

n.

ascetic living on the top of a pillar, 1630s, from Ecclesiastical Greek stylites, from stylos "pillar" (see stet).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper