anchorite

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

anchorite
    n 1: one retired from society for religious reasons [syn:
         {anchorite}, {hermit}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Anchoret \An"cho*ret\, Anchorite \An"cho*rite\, n. [F.
   anachor[`e]te, L. anachoreta, fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to go back,
   retire; ? + ? to give place, retire, ? place; perh. akin to
   Skr. h[=a] to leave. Cf. {Anchor} a hermit.]
   One who renounces the world and secludes himself, usually for
   religious reasons; a hermit; a recluse. [Written by some
   authors {anachoret}.]
   [1913 Webster]

         Our Savior himself . . . did not choose an anchorite's
         or a monastic life, but a social and affable way of
         conversing with mortals.                 --Boyle.
   [1913 Webster] Anchoretic

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Anchorite \An"cho*rite\, n.
   Same as {Anchoret}.
   [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

47 Moby Thesaurus words for "anchorite":
      Albigensian, Catharist, Diogenes, Franciscan, Hieronymian,
      Hieronymite, Sabbatarian, Timon of Athens, Trappist, Waldensian,
      abstainer, anchoress, ascetic, bedridden invalid, bhikshu,
      cloistered monk, closet cynic, dervish, desert fathers,
      desert saints, eremite, fakir, flagellant, hermit, hermitess,
      homebody, invalid, isolationist, loner, marabout, mendicant,
      outcast, pariah, pillar saint, pillarist, puritan, recluse,
      sannyasi, seclusionist, shut-in, solitaire, solitary,
      solitudinarian, stay-at-home, stylite, yogi, yogin