ἀναχωρητής

Forms

ἀνᾰχωρητής (anakhōrētḗs) m (genitive ἀνᾰχωρητοῦ); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἀναχωρέω (anakhōréō, “to go back, retire”) + -τής (-tḗs), with the suffix of agent nouns.^[1][2][3] The verb is made of ἀνά (aná, “back”) and χωρέω (khōréō, “to withdraw, make room”), so the noun means “one who has withdrawn”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in papyri of the 4th century AD, of a person who has withdrawn from the world.^[5][3]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to early Christian monasticism: Etymonline notes that it referred especially to the Christian hermits of the Eastern deserts in the two centuries after about AD 300.^[4] Epiphanius says of a man that he was thought to be an anchorite because he sat in a cave.^[5] Justinian's Novels use it in the 6th century, and so does an epitaph from Egypt of the same period.^[6][5] Coptic borrowed it in the 4th century, and it is found in several dialects.^[7]

Latin took it as anachōrēta,^[1] and through Late and Medieval Latin English has anchorite, which replaced an Old English word of the same origin.^[4] In medieval vernacular Greek it named a monk who withdraws from the world for the salvation of his soul, such as Paul of Thebes.^[3] Modern Greek keeps αναχωρητής (anachoritís) as a learned ecclesiastical word for a hermit, with a feminine αναχωρήτρια (anachorítria).^[8]

Timeline

• 4th century AD – Papyri record it, and Coptic borrows it.^[5][7][3]
• 6th century AD – Justinian's Novels and an epitaph from Egypt use it.^[6][5]
• Mid-15th century – English has anchorite, through Medieval Latin.^[4]
• Modern Greek – αναχωρητής (anachoritís) is a learned word for a religious hermit.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. One who has withdrawn from the world, an anchorite or hermit.^[6][5][2]

Related words

• Latin anachōrēta
• English anchorite

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
3. ^ a b c d Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic (DDGLC), Freie Universität Berlin and Universität Leipzig
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki