a person who dedicates his or her life to a pursuit of contemplative ideals and practices extreme self-denial or self-mortification for religious reasons.
2.
a person who leads an austerely simple life, esp. one who abstains from the normal pleasures of life or denies himself or herself material satisfaction.
3.
(in the early Christian church) a monk; hermit.
–adjective Also, as·cet·i·cal.
4.
pertaining to asceticism.
5.
rigorously abstinent; austere: an ascetic existence.
6.
exceedingly strict or severe in religious exercises or self-mortification.
[Origin: 1640–50; < Gk askétikós subject to rigorous exercise, hardworking, equiv. to aské- (see askesis) + -tikos-tic]
as·cet·icAudio Help (ə-sět'ĭk) Pronunciation Key
n.
A person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of austere self-discipline, especially as an act of religious devotion.
adj.
Leading a life of self-discipline and self-denial, especially for spiritual improvement. See Synonyms at severe.
Pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic; self-denying and austere: an ascetic existence.
[Late Greek askētikos, from Greek askētēs, practitioner, hermit, monk, from askein, to work.]
1646, from Gk. asketikos "rigorously self-disciplined," from asketes "monk, hermit," from askein "to exercise, train," originally "to train for athletic competition, practice gymnastics, exercise." The noun meaning "one of the early Christians who retired to the desert to live solitary lives of meditation and prayer" is from 1673.
pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline; "ascetic practices"
2.
practicing great self-denial; "Be systematically ascetic...do...something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it"- William James; "a desert nomad's austere life"; "a spartan diet"; "a spartan existence"
noun
1.
someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline [syn: abstainer]
As*cet"ic\a. [Gr. ?, fr. ? to exercise, to practice gymnastics.] Extremely rigid in self-denial and devotions; austere; severe. The stern ascetic rigor of the Temple discipline. --Sir W. Scott.
As*cet"ic\, n. In the early church, one who devoted himself to a solitary and contemplative life, characterized by devotion, extreme self-denial, and self-mortification; a hermit; a recluse; hence, one who practices extreme rigor and self-denial in religious things. I am far from commending those ascetics that take up their quarters in deserts. --Norris. Ascetic theology, the science which treats of the practice of the theological and moral virtues, and the counsels of perfection. --Am. Cyc.
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