ˈhərmə̇t, ˈhə̄m-, ˈhəim-, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English ermite, eremite, hermite, heremite, from Old French, from Late Latin eremita, from Late Greek erēmitēs, from Greek erēmitēs, adjective, living in the desert, from erēmia desert (from erēmos desolate, lonely + -ia -y) + -itēs -ite — more at retina
1.
a. : one that retires from society and lives in solitude : anchorite , recluse
seclusive hermits whether in mountain shacks or shuttered brownstone houses
a hermit nation
specifically : a Christian ascetic living alone in an isolated place in order to devote himself to religious exercises
Christian monasticism from the third century hermits of the Egyptian deserts
— compare monk
b. : a member of a monastic order (as the Carthusians) whose members lead a chiefly eremitical life or of the Hermits of St. Augustine
c. obsolete : beadsman
for … the late dignities heaped up to them we rest your hermits — Shakespeare
2.
a.
(1) : any of various plainly colored forest-dwelling tropical hummingbirds constituting the genus Phaethornis
(2) : any of several related hummingbirds
b. : hermit crab
3. : a spiced molasses cookie often containing chopped raisins and nuts