Etymograph

English

hermit

Hermit comes from Late Latin eremita ‘hermit, eremite’, from Ancient Greek ἐρημίτης ‘person of the desert’, and ultimately from ἔρημος ‘Attic form of ἐρῆμος’.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἔρημος‘Attic form of ἐρῆμος’
  2. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἐρημίαerēmía‘desert, solitude’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἐρημίτηςerēmítēs‘person of the desert’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEeremita‘hermit, eremite’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eremite
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hermite
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1865hermit

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἔρημος‘Attic form of ἐρῆμος’
  2. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἐρημίαerēmía‘desert, solitude’
  3. Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἐρημίτηςerēmítēs‘person of the desert’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEeremita‘hermit, eremite’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eremite
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hermite
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1865hermit

Earliest quotation: 1865, Walt Whitman, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d: “Solitary the thrush, / The hermit withdrawn to himself,…”

Every English word from Ancient Greek ἔρημος

Today it means

noun A religious recluse; someone who lives alone for religious reasons; an eremite.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἔρημος / hermit

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