hermit

• eremite, heremit, heremite (obsolete)

Borrowed 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”).

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)mɪt

hermit (plural hermits)

1. A religious recluse; someone who lives alone for religious reasons; an eremite.
2. A recluse; someone who lives alone and shuns human companionship.
3. A spiced cookie made with molasses, raisins, and nuts.
4. 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.

5. A bird in the subfamily Phaethornithinae.

In the sense of hermit:

• anchorite
• eremite
• recluse

• See also Thesaurus:recluse

• monachos
• monk

• mither