An archaic or variant spelling of anchorite; a person who has withdrawn from society for religious reasons and lives in solitude or seclusion.
From 'anchor' combined with a Latin suffix pattern, related to 'anchorite.' The form represents an earlier or alternative spelling influenced by Latin morphology, meaning literally one who is anchored to a place of devotion.
Anchorates reveal how spelling and vocabulary changed over time in English—what was a common word in medieval times became archaic, and 'anchorite' won out as the standard form, showing how language 'selects' certain variants over others!
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