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stylite

American  
[stahy-lahyt] / ˈstaɪ laɪt /

noun

Ecclesiastical History.
  1. one of a class of solitary ascetics who lived on the top of high pillars or columns.


stylite British  
/ staɪˈlɪtɪk, ˈstaɪlaɪt /

noun

  1. Christianity one of a class of recluses who in ancient times lived on the top of high pillars

"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

Other Word Forms

  • stylitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of stylite

1630–40; < Late Greek stȳlī́tēs, equivalent to stŷl ( os ) pillar + -itēs -ite 1

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.

A stylite was an ascetic who lived, usually for religious reasons, perched day in, day out on top of a pillar.

From The Guardian

Yet how could I shock the sweet filial heart of my cousin by a fierce lampoon or stylites against her father, had Latin even figured amongst her accomplishments?

From Project Gutenberg

Soon the report of this extraordinary existence spread from village to village, and the labourers of the valley came on Sundays, with their wives and children, to look at the stylite.

From Project Gutenberg

He highly approved of the extraordinary conduct of the stylite, and the heads of the Libyan Church followed, in the absence of Athanasius, the opinion of the Patriarch.

From Project Gutenberg

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

From Project Gutenberg