Wikipedia's first sentence called it “person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society”. Today it says “person who lives in seclusion”. This article was not filed under it. Today it is filed under Religious occupations.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
A hermit (from the Greek erēmos, signifying "desert", "uninhabited", hence "desert-dweller") is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society.1Originally the term was applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e. the 40 years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart). Often – both in religious and secular literature – the term is used loosely for anyone living a solitary life-style – including the misanthropist – and in religious contexts is sometimes assumed to be interchangeable with anchorite / anchoress (from the Greek anachōreō, signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the country outside the circumvallated city"), recluse and solitary . However, it is important to retain a clear distinction.2Christian hermits in the past have most often lived in caves , forests , or deserts , but some of them preferred an isolated cell in a monastery or even a city. From what we know from their contribution to our Christian heritage, male hermits were more common than female. As regards the anchorites, one that has left a lasting impression on Christian spirituality is the English anchoress Julian of Norwich .3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17831952.
The opening as it stood in 2010 4 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jerome , who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem , depicted in his study being visited by two angels.A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society. In Christianity , the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament (i.e., the forty years wandering in the desert that was meant to bring about a change of heart). In the Christian tradition the eremitic life is an early form of monastic living that preceded the monastic life in the cenobium .The Rule of St Benedict (ch. 1) lists hermits among four kinds of monks .In addition to hermits that are members of religious orders , modern Catholic Church law (canon 603) recognizes also consecrated hermits under the direction of their diocesan bishop as members of the Consecrated Life . Often, both in religious and secular literature, the term "hermit" is used loosely for anyone living a solitary life-style, including the misanthrope , and in religious contexts is sometimes assumed to be interchangeable with anchorite / anchoress (from the Greek anachōreō , signifying "to withdraw", "to depart into the country outside the circumvallate city"), recluse and solitary . However, it is important to retain a clear distinction between the vocation of hermits and that of anchorites.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 362473171.
The opening as it stood in 2015 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Jerome , who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem , depicted in his study being visited by two angels ( Cavarozzi , early 17th century) . A hermit ( adjectival form : eremitic or hermitic ) is a person who lives in seclusion from society.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667575466.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Jerome , who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem , depicted in his study being visited by two angels ( Cavarozzi , early 17th century) A hermit , or eremite ( adjectival form : eremitic or hermitic ), is a person who lives in seclusion from society, usually for religious reasons. Hermits are a part of several sections of Christianity, and the concept is found in other religions as well.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965341383.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Person who lives in seclusion from society For other uses, see Hermit (disambiguation) .Saint Jerome , who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem , depicted in his study being visited by two angels ( Cavarozzi , early 17th century) A hermit , also known as an eremite ( adjectival form : hermitic or eremitic ) or solitary , is a person who lives in seclusion .Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1177224894.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Person who lives in seclusion from society For other uses, see Hermit (disambiguation) . Saint Jerome , who lived as a hermit near Bethlehem , depicted in his study being visited by two angels ( Cavarozzi , early 17th century) A hermit , also known as an eremite ( adjectival form : hermitic or eremitic ) or solitary , is a person who lives in seclusion . Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1298045835. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society”. Today it says “person who lives in seclusion”. This article was not filed under it. Today it is filed under Religious occupations. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion from society
Now
person who lives in seclusion
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
