anchorites

(Eremites, "inhabitants of a desert", from the Greek eremos), also called anchorites, were men who fled the society of their fellow-men to dwell alone in retirement.

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913

The second kind is that of the anchorites, that is the hermits, those who have learned to fight against the devil, not by the new fervor of conversion, but by a long probation in a monastery, having been taught already by association with many; and having been well prepared in the army of the brethren for the solitary fight of the hermit, and secure now without the encouragement of another, they are able, God helping them, to fight with their own hand or arm against the vices of the flesh or of their thoughts.

A Source Book for Ancient Church History Joseph Cullen Ayer 1905

Painters and sculptors are well aware of this, for they never represent those to whom abstinence is a matter of duty, such as anchorites and misers, except as pale, thin, and wrinkled.

The physiology of taste; or Transcendental gastronomy. Illustrated by anecdotes of distinguished artists and statesmen of both continents by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin. Translated from the last Paris edition by Fayette Robinson. 2004

Painters and sculptors are well aware of this, for they never represent those to whom abstinence is a matter of duty, such as anchorites and misers, except as pale, thin, and wrinkled.

The Physiology of Taste 1755-1826 Brillat-Savarin 1790

You have a forest, which has the magical property of turning evil brothers into repentant model citizens or anchorites.

As You Like It at BAM deliasherman 2010

A few of the anchorites living in the shanties claim they saw her.

A Good Place for Graves « A Fly in Amber 2010

He had fled, silently, in the night, from their anchorites 'board.

WHEN GOD LAUGHS 2010

I am reminded of the anchorites and fugitive slave Harriet Jacobs, living in a small attic space, at times like this.

A bad Fall: damage severe Elizabeth McClung 2010

On the theory that there wouldn't be rules about things that people weren't doing, the lives of anchorites seem to have been not entirely hair shirts and flagellation.

Rules for Anchorites yuki_onna 2008

The wilderness is the solitary life of the anchoress's dwelling, for just as in the wilderness there are all the wild beasts, and they will not endure men coming near but flee when they hear them, so should anchorites, above all other women, be wild in this way...

Rules for Anchorites yuki_onna 2008