Definition

1. Noun:
   • The dwelling or retreat of a hermit: A "hermitage" is a place where a hermit lives in seclusion, often a small, simple house or hut located in a remote area.
   • A secluded residence or hideaway: By extension, it can refer to any quiet, private place of retreat, not necessarily religious in nature.
   • A monastery or similar religious establishment: In some contexts, it can denote a monastery, especially one housing a small community of monks or nuns seeking solitude.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The old monk lived in a stone hermitage built into the side of the mountain.
  • After retiring, she sought a peaceful hermitage in the countryside.
  • The famous hermitage attracts pilgrims seeking spiritual quiet.

Advanced Usage

• "to live in hermitage": to live in a state of seclusion or solitude.
  • The poet chose to live in hermitage for several years to focus on his writing.

Variants and Related Words

• Hermit (n): a person living in solitude as a religious discipline; a recluse.
  • The hermit rarely left his cabin.
• Hermitic (adj): relating to or characteristic of a hermit; secluded.
  • He led a hermetic life, cut off from modern society. (Note: "Hermetic" more commonly means airtight or sealed, but "hermitic" is the direct adjectival form.)

Synonyms

• Retreat: a quiet or secluded place.
• Sanctuary: a place of refuge or safety; a sacred place.
• Seclusion: the state of being private and away from other people.

Related Phrases

• "to take hermitage": (archaic/literary) to go into seclusion.
  • The king, weary of court life, decided to take hermitage in a remote abbey.

Related Idioms

• No direct idioms are commonly formed with the word "hermitage" itself. The concept is more frequently expressed through phrases involving "hermit" (e.g., ).

Noun

1. the abode of a hermit