Word of the Day

Sunday, December 21, 2003

eremite

\ER-uh-myt\ , noun;

A hermit, especially a religious recluse.

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Quotes:

He is in the private cave of his freedom, an eremite, a solitary; he orders his mind as he pleases.

-- Cynthia Ozick, "Writers Domestic and Demonic", New York Times, March 25, 1984

Origin:

Eremite derives from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, "living in the desert," from eremia, "desert," from eremos, "lonely, solitary, desolate."