hermit

C2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈhɝmɪt/ UK /ˈhɜːmɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #15597

Meanings

1

noun
A person who lives alone and avoids the company of others.

After his wife died, he became a hermit and rarely left the house.
2

noun
A person who lives alone for religious reasons.

The hermit had spent forty years praying in a cave in the mountains.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who lives alone... recluse solitaryshut-in

2 noun · a person who lives alone... anchorite eremite

Word family

Forms hermits

Derived forms hermiehermit-birdhermit-crowhermitagehermitaryhermitesshermithoodhermitichermiticalhermiticallyhermitishhermitism

Related forms monachosmonk

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

hermit crab
a small crustacean that protects its soft body inside an empty shell

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English hermite, heremite, eremite, from Old French eremite, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin eremita, from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmítēs, “person of the desert”) from ἐρημία (erēmía, “desert, solitude”), from ἔρημος (érēmos) or ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “uninhabited”) plus -ίτης (-ítēs, “one connected to, a member of”). Doublet of eremite. Displaced native Old English ānsetla.

hermite Middle English eremite Old French eremita la-lat ἐρημίτης Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# hermit

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɝmɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɜːmɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 15597

## Meanings
1. A person who lives alone and avoids the company of others.
2. A person who lives alone for religious reasons.

## Examples
- After his wife died, he became a hermit and rarely left the house.
- The hermit had spent forty years praying in a cave in the mountains.

## Derived Forms
- hermie
- hermit-bird
- hermit-crow
- hermitage
- hermitary
- hermitess
- hermithood
- hermitic
- hermitical
- hermitically
- hermitish
- hermitism

## Related Forms
- monachos
- monk

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: hermite
- Root: eremite
- Root: eremita
- Root: ἐρημίτης

## Etymology
From Middle English hermite, heremite, eremite, from Old French eremite, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin eremita, from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmítēs, “person of the desert”) from ἐρημία (erēmía, “desert, solitude”), from ἔρημος (érēmos) or ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “uninhabited”) plus -ίτης (-ítēs, “one connected to, a member of”). Doublet of eremite. Displaced native Old English ānsetla.

## AI Etymology
Hermit is from Middle English hermite, heremite, eremite, from Old French eremite, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin eremita, from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmítēs, “person of the desert”) from ἐρημία (erēmía, “desert, solitude”), from ἔρημος (érēmos) or ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “uninhabited”) plus -ίτης (-ítēs, “one connected to, a member of”). Doublet of eremite. Displaced native Old English ānsetla. Important recorded forms include hermite (Middle English), eremite (Old French), eremita (la-lat), and ἐρημίτης (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a person who lives alone and avoids the company of others and a person who lives alone for religious reasons. The wider family includes derived forms such as hermie, hermit-bird, hermit-crow, hermitage, and hermitary; related words such as monachos and monk.

## Topics
- People & Society

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