Hermit

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Hermit \Her"mit\, n. [OE. ermite, eremite, heremit, heremite, F.
     hermite, ermite, L. eremita, Gr. ?, fr. ? lonely, solitary.
     Cf. {Eremite}.]
     1. A person who retires from society and lives in solitude; a
        recluse; an anchoret; especially, one who so lives from
        religious motives.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              He had been Duke of Savoy, and after a very glorious
              reign, took on him the habit of a hermit, and
              retired into this solitary spot.      --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A beadsman; one bound to pray for another. [Obs.] "We rest
        your hermits." --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Cookery) A spiced molasses cookie, often containing
        chopped raisins and nuts.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     {Hermit crab} (Zool.), a marine decapod crustacean of the
        family {Pagurid[ae]}. The species are numerous, and belong
        to many genera. Called also {soldier crab}. The hermit
        crabs usually occupy the dead shells of various univalve
        mollusks. See Illust. of {Commensal}.
  
     {Hermit thrush} (Zool.), an American thrush ({Turdus
        Pallasii}), with retiring habits, but having a sweet song.
        
  
     {Hermit warbler} (Zool.), a California wood warbler
        ({Dendroica occidentalis}), having the head yellow, the
        throat black, and the back gray, with black streaks.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  hermit
       n 1: one retired from society for religious reasons [syn: {anchorite}]
       2: one who lives in solitude [syn: {recluse}, {solitary}, {solitudinarian},
           {troglodyte}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  97 Moby Thesaurus words for "hermit":
     Albigensian, Catharist, Diogenes, Franciscan, Hieronymian,
     Hieronymite, Sabbatarian, Timon of Athens, Trappist, Waldensian,
     abbacomes, abbot, abstainer, alien, anchoress, anchoret, anchorite,
     ascetic, beadsman, bedridden invalid, bhikshu, brother, caloyer,
     case, celibate, cenobite, character, cloistered monk, closet cynic,
     conventual, conventual prior, crackpot, crank, dervish,
     desert fathers, desert saints, eccentric, eremite, fakir, fanatic,
     flagellant, friar, grand prior, hermitess, hieromonach, hobo,
     homebody, invalid, isolationist, kook, lay abbot, lay brother,
     lone wolf, loner, marabout, maverick, mendicant, meshuggenah,
     monastic, monk, natural, nonconformist, nut, odd fellow, oddball,
     oddity, original, outcast, outsider, palmer, pariah, pilgrim,
     pillar saint, pillarist, prior, puritan, queer duck, queer fish,
     queer specimen, rara avis, recluse, religieux, religious, sannyasi,
     screwball, seclusionist, shut-in, solitaire, solitary,
     solitudinarian, stay-at-home, stylite, tramp, type, yogi, yogin,
     zealot
  
  

From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:

  HERMIT, n.  A person whose vices and follies are not sociable.