anchorite

[ ang-kuh-rahyt ]
/ ˈæŋ kəˌraɪt /

noun

a person who has retired to a solitary place for a life of religious seclusion; hermit.
Also anchoret.

Origin of anchorite

1400–50; late Middle English anc(h)orite, conflation of Middle English ancre (Old English ancra, ancer) and Old French anacorite or Medieval Latin anachōrīta < Late Greek anachōrētḗs, equivalent to Greek anachōrē-, stem of anachōreîn to withdraw ( ana- ana- + chōreîn to give way, verbal derivative of chôros space) + -tēs agent suffix; Old English forms < Old Irish *ancharae < Late Latin anachōrēta < Late Greek

OTHER WORDS FROM anchorite

an·cho·rit·ic [ang-kuh-rit-ik] /ˌæŋ kəˈrɪt ɪk/, adjective an·cho·rit·i·cal·ly, adverb an·cho·rit·ism [ang-kuh-rahy-tiz-uh m] /ˈæŋ kə raɪˌtɪz əm/, noun

Example sentences from the Web for anchorite

British Dictionary definitions for anchorite

anchorite
/ (ˈæŋkəˌraɪt) /

noun

a person who lives in seclusion, esp a religious recluse; hermit

Derived forms of anchorite

anchoress, fem n

Word Origin for anchorite

C15: from Medieval Latin anchorīta, from Late Latin anachōrēta, from Greek anakhōrētēs, from anakhōrein to retire, withdraw, from khōra a space