A squared stone pillar with a head (usually of Hermes, the Greek god) on top, used as a boundary marker or decoration in ancient Greece.
From Greek 'Hermēs,' the name of the god of boundaries, commerce, and communication; the term comes directly from this divine association, as Hermes was believed to protect travelers and borders.
Hermit comes from the same Greek god—Hermes—because ancient monks were thought to be messengers between the human and divine worlds, just like Hermes himself, showing how one deity shaped vocabulary across completely different practices.
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