hermit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhɜːmɪt/ (UK); /ˈhɝmɪt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English heremite, ermite,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French hermite, ermite,^{[2][3][6][4][5]} from Late Latin erēmīta (Medieval Latin herēmīta),^{[2][3][6][4][5]} from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmítēs, “person of the desert”),^{[2][3][6][4][5]} from erēmía “desert, solitude”, from érēmos “solitary, uninhabited”.^{[2][3][6][4][5]} The unetymological h- first appeared in Medieval Latin.^[6] It is a doublet of eremite.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A religious recluse who lives alone in a solitary place for meditation (1196 in Barnhart; early 12th century in Etymonline; c. 1205 in the OED).^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The early Christian hermits withdrew to the desert, hence the name.^[7][6] The word was also used in the names of monastic orders, such as the Hermits of St Augustine (1577–87), and of a beadsman (1588, obsolete) and a vagabond (1495).^[7] The general sense, any person living in solitude, dates from 1799.^[6][7] From 1661 it was applied to animals of solitary habits,^[7] as the hermit crab (1735).^[6] In American use a hermit is also a spiced molasses cookie.^[2][4][8] Hermitage dates from about 1300.^[3]

Timeline

• about 1130 – in the place name Bechermet.^[3]
• 1196 – heremite, a religious recluse.^[3]
• about 1300 – hermitage.^[3]
• 1735 – hermit crab.^[6]
• 1799 – any person living in solitude.^[7][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who has withdrawn from society to live in solitude, especially for religious reasons; a recluse.
2. An animal of solitary habits, or a hermit crab.
3. A spiced molasses cookie, often with raisins or nuts.

Word family

• hermitic
• hermitically
• hermitism
• hermitlike
• hermitry
• hermitage
• hermit crab
• hermit kingdom

Related words

• eremite
• anchorite
• recluse

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House