Hermit Meaning
/ˈhɝmɪt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA religious recluse; someone who lives alone for religious reasons; an eremite.
nounA recluse; someone who lives alone and shuns human companionship.
Sentence Examples
The hermit lived in a wooden hut.
Tom is a hermit.
He dressed himself like a hermit for the party last night.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ lived alone in a cave far from the village.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old man lived as a ____ in a small cabin deep in the woods, far away from any people.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English hermite, heremite, eremite, 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”). Doublet of eremite. Displaced native Old English ānsetla.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Solitary the thrush, / The hermit withdrawn to himself, avoiding the settlements, / Sings by himself a song."
— 1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:
"Millie told him he sounded like some batty hermit who lived in a cave."
— 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 184:
"Because hermits are decapods and do not live within their own shells, they are not considered to be true crabs."
— 2016, Vicki Judah, Kathy Nuttall, Exotic Animal Care and Management, page 279:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ lived alone in a cave far from the village.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The old man lived as a ____ in a small cabin deep in the woods, far away from any people.