Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Anchorite
An′cho-ret
,An′cho-rite
Noun.
[F.
anachorète
, L. anachoreta
, fr. Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] to go back, retire; [GREEK] + [GREEK] to give place, retire, [GREEK] place; perh. akin to Skr. hā
to leave. Cf. Anchor
a hermit.] One who renounces the world and secludes himself, usually for religious reasons; a hermit; a recluse.
[Written by some authors
anachoret
.] Our Savior himself . . . did not choose an
anchorite’s
or a monastic life, but a social and affable way of conversing with mortals. Boyle.
Webster 1828 Edition
Anchorite
AN'CHORET
, or AN'CHORITE,Noun.
A hermit; a recluse; one who retires from society into a desert or solitary place, to avoid the temptations of the world and devote himself to religious duties. Also a monk, who, with the leave of the abbot, retires to a cave or cell, with an allowance from the monastery, to live in solitude.