Carmelite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who belongs to the Carmelite order, a Roman Catholic religious community dedicated to a life of prayer and contemplation
2. An individual affiliated with the Carmelite monks or nuns known for their spiritual devotion and monastic lifestyle
3. A member of the Carmelite religious group devoted to following a life of religious service and meditation

Etymology: The name goes back to Mount Carmel, the ridge in northern Israel whose Hebrew name is often glossed as "garden" or "vineyard." Carmel was the setting for the Carmelite order's origins: a group of hermits gathered there, and their name came to be attached to the place they lived. The English word is simply that place name with the suffix "-ite," the common English ending for people associated with a place or group, so a Carmelite is literally someone "of Carmel." The suffix does the same job in many other words, from "Israelite" to "Luxemburgite," which is why the form is so transparent. What makes the term distinctive is that the place name came first, and the people were named after the mountain rather than the other way around.