n.1 an early Christian recluse.
2 any person living in solitude.
Phrases and idioms:
hermit-crab any crab of the family Paguridae that lives in a cast-off mollusc shell for protection. hermit thrush a migratory N. American thrush, Catharus guttatus.
Derivatives:
hermitic adj.
Etymology: ME f. OF (h)ermite or f. LL eremita f. Gk eremites f. eremia desert f. eremos solitary