anchoress

[ ang-ker-is ]

/ ˈæŋ kər ɪs /

a woman who is an anchorite.

Origin of anchoress

1350–1400; late Middle English anchoryse, Middle English ankres, equivalent to ancre anchorite + -es -ess

See -ess.

I'll not go back to my anchoress lodge in the north till I see what works out of them!

The Herd Boy and His Hermit |Charlotte M. Yonge
The Lady Julian, who was the anchoress in 1393, is said to have had two servants to attend her in her old age.

Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages |Edward Lewes Cutts
An anchoress must not become a schoolmistress, nor turn her anchoress-house into a school for children.

Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 |Eileen Edna Power
An old woman sits under the window; the anchoress appears and a conversation begins.

A Literary History of the English People |Jean Jules Jusserand

Stop before the house of this anchoress, secluded from the world, and absorbed in pious meditations, a holy and quiet place.

A Literary History of the English People |Jean Jules Jusserand