[1350–1400; late ME anchoryse, ME ankres, equiv. to ancreanchorite + -es-ess]This word is first recorded in the period 1350–1400. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: absolute, flash, negative, register, train-ess is a suffix forming distinctively feminine nouns. Other words that use the affix-ess include: heiress, monitress, peeress, proprietress, waitress
Examples of 'anchoress' in a sentence
anchoress
The word anchoress is a cognate of a Greek verb that means `to retire.
Newbery, Linda RIDDLE ME THIS (1993)
We also keep meeting a 13th-century anchoress, walled away to atone for her sins.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The church where she was an anchoress is south of the cathedral.