recluse

From Old French reclus, past participle of reclure, from Latin reclūdere, present active infinitive of reclūdō (“I disclose, I open”), from re- + claudō (“close”).

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈkluːs/, /ˈɹɛkluːs/

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  • Audio (Southern England)

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• Rhymes: -uːs

recluse (comparative more recluse, superlative most recluse)

1. (now rare) Sequestered; secluded, isolated.

   a recluse monk or hermit

   • 1708, [John Philips], “(please specify the page)”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     In meditation deep, recluse / From human converse.

2. (now rare) Hidden, secret.

• reclusive

recluse (plural recluses)

1. A person who lives in self-imposed isolation or seclusion from the world, especially for religious purposes; a hermit
   • 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xv:

     The recluse in the fable kept a cat to keep off the rats, and then a cow to feed the cat with milk, and a man to keep the cow and so on. My ambitions also grew like the family of the recluse.

   Synonyms: anchorite, eremite, hermit

2. (obsolete) The place where a recluse dwells; a place of isolation or seclusion.
   • 1563 March 30 (Gregorian calendar), John Foxe, Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes, […], London: […] Iohn Day, […], →OCLC:

     that day of appearance taken out of the recluse and committed to safe custody

3. (US) A brown recluse spider.

See also Thesaurus:recluse

recluse (third-person singular simple present recluses, present participle reclusing, simple past and past participle reclused)

1. (obsolete) to shut; to seclude

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.klyz/

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• Homophone: recluses

recluse

1. feminine singular of reclus

• IPA^(key): /reˈklu.ze/
• Rhymes: -uze
• Hyphenation: re‧clù‧se

recluse

1. feminine plural of recluso

recluse f pl

1. feminine plural of recluso

recluse f

1. plural of reclusa

recluse

1. third-person singular past historic of recludere

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /reˈkluː.se/, [rɛˈkɫ̪uːs̠ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /reˈklu.se/, [reˈkluːs̬e]

reclūse

1. vocative masculine singular of reclūsus