Heremite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a person who withdraws from society to live alone, usually for religious devotion
2. A solitary man or woman who lives apart from others in seclusion, often for spiritual reasons, in an older usage of the word
3. An obsolete name for a hermit, meaning someone who dwells in solitude, typically in a remote place for prayer and contemplation

Etymology: "Heremite" comes from Old French "hermite," from Late Latin "eremita," which was borrowed from Greek "erēmitēs," meaning "desert dweller," from "erēmos," "desert" or "solitary place." The Greek root carried the sense of emptiness and solitude, which is why early Christian monks who withdrew into the Egyptian desert were called by this name. English first recorded the word in the 13th century as "eremite," and "heremite" appeared as a variant spelling in Middle English, when the initial h was often added or dropped in borrowed words. The h spelling was later abandoned, and it now survives only in older or deliberately archaic writing.