hermit

English

Alternative forms

eremite, heremit, heremite (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English hermite, heremite, eremite, from Old French eremite, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin eremita, from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης (erēmítēs, “person of the desert”) from ἐρημία (erēmía, “desert, solitude”), from ἔρημος (érēmos) or ἐρῆμος (erêmos, “uninhabited”) plus -ίτης (-ítēs, “one connected to, a member of”). Doublet of eremite. Displaced native Old English ānsetla.

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɝmɪt/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɜːmɪt/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mɪt
Hyphenation: her‧mit

Noun

hermit (plural hermits)

A religious recluse; someone who lives alone for religious reasons; an eremite.
Synonyms: anchorite, eremite
A recluse; someone who lives alone and shuns human companionship.
- 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 184:
  Millie told him he sounded like some batty hermit who lived in a cave.
Synonyms: see Thesaurus:recluse
A spiced cookie made with molasses, raisins, and nuts.
A hermit crab.
- 2016, Vicki Judah, Kathy Nuttall, Exotic Animal Care and Management (page 279)
  Because hermits are decapods and do not live within their own shells, they are not considered to be true crabs.
Any in the subfamily Phaethornithinae of hummingbirds.

Derived terms

hermitage
hermit crab
hermitize
hermit kingdom
hermitness
hermit thrush
hermitty
hermit warbler

Translations

religious recluse; eremite

Arabic: راهب‎
Armenian: անապատական (hy) (anapatakan), ճգնավոր (hy) (čgnavor)
Belarusian: пустэ́льнік m (pustélʹnik), самотнік m (samótnik)
Bulgarian: отшелник (bg) m (otšelnik)
Catalan: ermità (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 隐士 (zh) (yǐnshì)
Czech: poustevník (cs) m
Dutch: kluizenaar (nl) m
Esperanto: ermito
Finnish: erakko (fi)
French: ermite (fr) m or f, ermitane (fr) f
Galician: eremita m or f, ermitán m, ermitá f, anacoreta m or f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Einsiedler (de) m, Eremit (de) m, Klausner (de) m
Greek: ερημίτης (el) m (erimítis)
Ancient: ἐρημίτης m (erēmítēs)
Hungarian: remete (hu)
Icelandic: einsetumaður m, einsetumunkur m
Indonesian: resi (id)
Irish: ancaire m
Italian: eremita (it) m, anacoreta (it) m
Japanese: 仙人 (ja) (sennin)
Javanese: pandhita (jv)
Khmer: ឥសិ (km) (ʼiseʼ), តាបស (km) (taabɑh)
Latin: inclūsus m
Macedonian: о́тшелник m (ótšelnik), пу́стиник m (pústinik)
Maori: eremita
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian: eremitt
Old English: ānsetla m
Persian: راهب‎ (fa)
Polish: anachoreta (pl) m, eremita (pl) m, pustelnik (pl) m, pustelnica (pl) f, pustelniczka (pl) f
Portuguese: eremita (pt) m or f, ermitão (pt) m
Russian: отше́льник (ru) m (otšélʹnik), затво́рник (ru) m (zatvórnik)
Scottish Gaelic: aonaran m
Sicilian: rimitu (scn) m
Slovak: pustovník (sk) m
Spanish: ermitaño (es) m
Swedish: eremit (sv) c
Thai: นักบวช (th) (nák-bùuat)
Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: пусте́льник (uk) m (pustélʹnyk)
Vietnamese: nhà ẩn dật, ẩn sĩ

recluse; someone who lives alone

Armenian: անապատական (hy) (anapatakan), ճգնավոր (hy) (čgnavor)
Belarusian: адзіно́тнік m (adzinótnik), само́тнік m (samótnik), самотніца f (samótnica), адзінотніца f (adzinótnica)
Bulgarian: отше́лник (bg) m (otšélnik)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 隱士／隐士 (zh) (yǐnshì)
Czech: poustevník (cs) m
Dutch: kluizenaar (nl) m
Esperanto: dezertulo
Finnish: erakko (fi)
French: ermite (fr) m or f
German: Einsiedler (de) m
Greek: ερημίτης (el) m (erimítis)
Ancient: ἐρημίτης m (erēmítēs), μονότροπος m (monótropos)
Hungarian: remete (hu)
Icelandic: einsetumaður m
Irish: ancaire m
Italian: eremita (it) m
Japanese: 仙人 (ja) (sennin), 隠者 (ja) (いんじゃ, inja)
Khmer: វិវេកជន (vĭvékchôn)
Korean: 은자 (eunja)
Latin: inclūsus m
Macedonian: отшелник m (otšelnik)
Maori: moke, moke
Old English: ānsetla m
Persian: گوشه‌گیر‎ (guše-gir)
Polish: odludek (pl) m, pustelnik (pl) m, pustelnica (pl) f, pustelniczka (pl) f, samotnik (pl) m, samotnica f, samotniczka f
Portuguese: eremita (pt) m or f, ermitão (pt) m
Russian: отше́льник (ru) m (otšélʹnik), затво́рник (ru) m (zatvórnik)
Scottish Gaelic: aonaran m
Sicilian: rimitu (scn) m
Slovak: pustovník (sk) m
Spanish: ermitaño (es) m
Swedish: enstöring (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Ukrainian: самі́тник m (samítnyk), само́тник m (samótnyk)
Vietnamese: nhà ẩn dật, ẩn sĩ

hermit crab — see hermit crab

bird

Finnish: erakkokolibri (fi)
Navajo: tsintah dahiitį́hii
Spanish: ermitaño (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: ^{(please verify)} eremita (it) m
Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} pustinjak (sh) m, ^{(please verify)} otšelnik m

Anagrams

mither