anchorite

• anachoret, anachorete, anachorite, anchoret

From Ancient Greek ἀναχωρητής (anakhōrētḗs, “anchoret”), from ἀναχωρέω (anakhōréō, “I withdraw, retire”), via Latin anchorēta, a variant of anachorēta (“anchorite”).

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anchorite (plural anchorites)

1. One who lives in isolation or seclusion, especially for religious reasons.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 16, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     The preposterous altruism too! […] Resist not evil. It is an insane immolation of self—as bad intrinsically as fakirs stabbing themselves or anchorites warping their spines in caves scarcely large enough for a fair-sized dog.

   • 1950, Will Durant, The Age of Faith, Simon and Schuster, page 792.

     About 1150 some Palestinian anchorites adopted the eremitical rule of St. Basil, and spread throughout Palestine; when the Moslems captured the Holy Land these "Carmelites" migrated to Cyprus, Sicily, France, and England.

   Synonyms: eremite, hermit, recluse

• anchoress (feminine gender)

• page in Portuguese Wikipedia
• A definition in Spanish

• antechoir, heatronic