anchoress

American  

[ang-ker-is] / ˈæŋ kər ɪs /

noun

1. a woman who is an anchorite.

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Gender

What's the difference between anchoress and anchor? See -ess.

Etymology

Origin of anchoress

First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English anchoryse, Middle English ankres, equivalent to ancre anchorite + -es -ess

Example Sentences

Julian lived as an anchoress, a type of religious hermit, and was likely bricked up inside a small stone cell during her 40-odd years of monastic life.

From New York Times • Jan. 21, 2011

“A peering anchoress, who is always thrusting her head outward, is like an untamed bird in a cage,” says the good bishop.

From English Villages by Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)

What hath this holy anchoress done, that thou burthenest thyself with the sore burden of her blood?

From Alaeddin and the Enchanted Lamp by Payne, John

An old woman sits under the window; the anchoress appears and a conversation begins.

From A Literary History of the English People From the Origins to the Renaissance by Jusserand, Jean Jules

Similarly the author of the Ancren Riwle warns his three anchoresses: An anchoress must not become a schoolmistress, nor turn her anchoress-house into a school for children.

From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen