Etymology : Middle English eremite, from Old French, from Late Latin eremita, from Late Greek erEmitEs, from Greek, adjective, living in the desert, from erEmia desert, from erEmos desolate
Pronunciation : h&r-m&t
Function : noun
Date : 12th century
1. loner; one who lives apart from people. hermit\her"mit\, n. (cookery) a spiced molasses cooky, often containing chopped raisins and nuts.hermit \her"mit\ , n. [oe. ermite, eremite, heremit, heremite, f. hermite, ermite, l. eremita, gr. , fr. lonely, solitary. cf. eremite.].
2. a person who retires from society and lives in solitude; a recluse; an anchoret; especially, one who so lives from religious motives. he had been duke of savoy, and after a very glorious reign, took on him the habit of a hermit, and retired into this solitary spot.
3. a beadsman; one bound to pray for another. [obs.] "we rest your hermits."hermit crab (zo?l.), a marine decapod crustacean of the family pagurid?. the species are numerous, and belong to many genera. called also soldier crab. the hermit crabs usually occupy the dead shells of various univalve mollusks. see:
illust. of commensal.hermit thrush (zo?l.), an american thrush (turdus pallasii), with retiring habits, but having a sweet song.hermit warbler (zo?l.), a california wood warbler (dendroica occidentalis), having the head yellow, the throat black, and the back gray, with black streaks.hermit n.
4. one retired from society for religious reasons [syn: anchorite].
5. one who lives in solitude [syn: recluse, solitary, solitudinarian, troglodyte].
6. A person who retires from society and lives in solitude; a recluse; an anchoret; especially, one who so lives from religious motives.
7. A beadsman; one bound to pray for another.
8. A spiced molasses cooky, often containing chopped raisins and nuts. one who lives in solitude.
9. A hermit is a person who lives alone, away from people and society. someone who lives alone and has a simple way of life, usually for religious reasons recluse (eremite, from eremites , from eremos ). or eremite Individual who shuns society to live in solitude, often for religious reasons. The first Christian hermits appeared in Egypt in the 3rd century AD, escaping persecution by withdrawing to the desert and leading a life of prayer and penance. The first hermit was probably Paul of Thebes AD 250. Other famous hermits included St. Anthony of Egypt, who established an early form of Christian monasticism in the 4th century, and the pillar hermit Simeon Stylites. The communal life of monasteries eventually tempered the austerities of the hermit's life. In Western Christianity the eremitic life died out, but it has persisted in Eastern Christianity.