From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhermither‧mit /ˈhɜːmɪt $ ˈhɜːr-/ noun [countable] SSRRsomeone who lives alone and has a simple way of life, usually for religious reasons → recluse
Examples from the Corpus
hermit• Three of the five were men: Richard Rolle, a hermit from North Yorkshire.• If you were a hermit or even a monk, you would have little trouble indeed in implementing it.• A hermit crab carrying a sea anemone around on its shell.• A hermit crab sticks sand and weed on its shell, and all Jay's glitz was camouflage.• Others are known to join the mooching hermit and his furry adjunct.• Sometimes you can find a Zebra flatworm sharing the snail shell with the hermit crab.• The hermit had suddenly stopped, one day, and had quickly looked at Mike over his shoulder.• Emperor Constantine was said to visit the wise hermit for counsel.Origin hermit (1100-1200) Old French eremite, from Greek eremites “living in the desert”, from eremos “lonely” 