anchorhold
An anchorhold is a dwelling for an anchorite—a religious recluse who withdrew from the world for solitary prayer and contemplation.
These were typically small cells attached to churches, often with a single window facing the altar.
The term is historical, referring to medieval Christian practice: She spent her final decades in an anchorhold, devoted to prayer.
Sustained reflective attention
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- prayerAddress to deity
- meditationFocused attention practice
- asceticismSevere self-denial practice
piety · holiness · sanctity · mysticism · renunciation · penance · fasting · vigil
Basic unit of life
- retreatSanctuary or withdrawal
- enclosureConfined, bordered space
- dwellingPlace of residence
- refugePlace of safety
abbey · monastery · priory · convent · oratory · chapel · sanctum · cloister
State of being alone
- isolationComplete separation from others
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- reclusivenessState of avoiding society
- quietudeState of calm stillness
silence · privacy · aloneness · sequestration · detachment · hiddenness · separateness · confinement
contemplation
Sustained reflective attention
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- prayerAddress to deity
- meditationFocused attention practice
asceticism · piety · holiness · sanctity · mysticism · renunciation · penance · fasting · vigil · vocation
cell
Basic unit of life
refuge · abbey · monastery · priory · convent · oratory · chapel · sanctum · cloister · grotto
solitude
State of being alone
- isolationComplete separation from others
- withdrawalAct of taking away
- reclusivenessState of avoiding society
quietude · silence · privacy · aloneness · sequestration · detachment · hiddenness · separateness · confinement · enclosure
hermit
Person choosing total seclusion
eremite · mystic · nun · monk · cenobite · contemplative · religious · enclosed · vowed · professed
- retreatsspa, retreat house, meditation retreat, writing retreat, wellness retreat
- monasticismabbeys, abbey, abbots, abbot, cloister
- hermitshermit, hermitage, recluse, eremite, solitary
- asceticismabstinence, celibacy, ascetic, austerities, chastity
- monasteriesabbey, abbeys, abbot, abbots, abbess
- clergy housingrectory, parsonage, manse, vicarage, presbytery
anchorholdmonastery
Religious seclusion dwelling
convent · friary · marketplace · town square
anchorholddrift
Gradual movement, no direction
adrift · rootlessness · instability · unmoored · precariousness
anchorholdwandering
Traveling with no fixed course
itinerancy · pilgrimage · nomadism · vagrancy · open road
hold, anchor, holding, uphold, anchored, anchoring, anchorage, anchorman, unanchored