Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HER'MIT, n. [Fr. hermite, ermite; Sp. ermitaño; It. eremita; Gr. ερημιτης, from ερημος, solitary, destitute. Perhaps from the Shemitic חרם, to cut off from society, to expel, or to be separated. Class Rm. See Harem.]

1. A person who retires from society and lives in solitude; a recluse; an anchoret. The word is usually applied to a person who lives in solitude, disengaged from the cares and interruptions of society, for the purpose of religious contemplation and devotion.
2. A beadsman; one bound to pray for another. Shak.