1. somebody who chooses to live alone: somebody who chooses to live alone and to have little or no social contact
2. early Christian living apart: somebody who, in early Christian times, chose to reject material things and to live apart from the rest of society, especially in order to be completely devoted to God
3. food soft spicy cookie: a soft cookie containing molasses, raisins, nuts, and spices
[12th century. Via Old French hermite or medieval Latin heremita< Greek erēmitēs< erēmia "desert" < erēmos "solitary"]
