anachoreta

Forms

anachōrēta m (genitive anachōrētae); first declension^[1] Also spelled anachorita, and in Medieval Latin anchoreta and anchorita.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀναχωρητής (anakhōrētḗs, “one who has withdrawn”),^[2][5][6][1] an agent noun from ἀναχωρέω (anakhōréō, “to retreat, withdraw”), made of ἀνά (aná, “back”) and χωρέω (khōréō, “to give way, withdraw”), from χῶρος (khôros, “place, space”).^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Jerome uses it in a letter of the anachoretae qui soli habitant per deserta, “anchorites, who live alone in the deserts”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Sulpicius Severus uses it in his Dialogues and Sidonius in a poem, where it is scanned with a short first and third syllable;^[2][8] Venantius Fortunatus and Isidore spell it anachorita.^[2][8] Glossaries render it by recessor and solitarius.^[2]

Medieval Latin used it for a hermit and for a recluse enclosed in a cell, and in Britain also, as a feminine, for an anchoress.^[3][9][4] Ælfric glosses it with Old English ancra.^[4] English took it in the mid-15th century as anchorite, from the Medieval Latin form anchorita.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of anchorites living alone in the desert.^[2][6]
• c. 363–c. 420 AD – Sulpicius Severus uses it in his Dialogues.^[2][5][6]
• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius uses it in a poem.^[2][5][6]
• 536–c. 610 AD – Venantius Fortunatus spells it anachorita.^[2][8][6]
• mid-15th century – English borrows it as anchorite.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hermit, anchorite, one who lives alone in the desert.^[5][2][3]
2. (Medieval Latin) A recluse enclosed in a cell;^[9][4] (feminine) an anchoress.^[9][4]

Word family

• anachōrēticus

Related words

• English anchorite

Usage notes

The TLL gives eremita as a synonym.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften