▪ I. recluse, a. and n.
(rɪˈkluːs)
Also 3–4 reclus, 6 recluce.
[ad. F. reclus, recluse, pa. pple. of reclure:—L. reclūdĕre to shut up, reclude.]
A. adj.
1. Of persons: Shut up, secluded from society, esp. as a religious discipline. a. In predicative use, or placed after the n.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 378 Nes he him sulf reclus iðe meidenes wombe? 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 81 He lerned of a man recluse þat in Wlcanes potte..þe soules of dede men were tormented. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 254 An holy clerk reclus, Which full was of gostli vertus. c 1491 Chast. Goddes Chyld. 22 Some tyme thei wylle goo on pylgremage, somtyme they wyll be recluse. 1581 Mulcaster Positions iv. (1887) 15 As most beseeming him, which must liue among many and neuer be recluse. c 1610 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster i. i, A virtuous court: to which your great ones may..retire, and live recluse. 1662 Pepys Diary 24 May, How recluse the Queene hath ever been, and all the voyage never come upon the deck. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 156 The Women, both White and Black, are kept recluse. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 89 ¶3 It..frequently happens that the most recluse are not the most vigorous prosecutors of study. 1781 Cowper Conversat. 801, I have lived recluse in rural shades. 1868 Masson Mem. in Goldsm.'s Wks. (Globe) p. xxxvii, Young was dying; Gray was recluse and indolent. |
b. In attributive use (usually denoting attachment to seclusion or retirement).
| 1634 Habington Castara i. (Arb.) 18 The Vowes of recluse Nuns, and th' An'thrits prayer. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 139 ¶4 Falling into the Error which recluse Men are very subject to. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, xi. III. 340 He acquired..the qualities and passions of a recluse ecclesiastick. 1865 Merivale Rom. Emp. lxiv. VIII. 114 The fashion set by princes has more influence..than the example of recluse philosophers. 1891 E. Peacock N. Brendon l. 315, I care much more now for our recluse friend than I did before. |
| absol. 1726 Leoni tr. Alberti's Archit. I. 85/1 To disorder, or pollute the minds of the Recluse. Ibid., Those Recluse who to Religion join the study of the liberal Arts. |
† c. Shut off, retired from company, etc. Obs.
| 1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 23, I all the live-long Day Consume in Meditation deep, recluse From human Converse. 1789 Triumphs Fortitude I. 159, I resolved to keep myself as recluse from company as I could during my short stay. |
2. Of one's life, condition, etc.: Characterized by seclusion or close retirement.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. (1688) II. 376 One who by this recluse passive Condition hath his share of this hideous Storm. 1673 Lady's Call. i. v. §28 Devotion in a Cloister is as recluse as the Votary. 1709 Tatler No. 32 ¶4 A Lady who had writ a fine Book concerning the Recluse Life. 1797 Holcroft tr. Stolberg's Trav. (ed. 2) II. xl. 51 Their mode of living is exceedingly recluse and severe. 1849 Grote Greece ii. xlvi. (1862) IV. 109 His private habits were sober and recluse. 1867 Barry Sir C. Barry x. 329 Few men had less of a recluse character. |
3. a. Of places: Secluded, hidden from observation, solitary. Now rare.
| 1652 J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox vii. 158 You might rather wonder how the news..should penetrate my Ears in that recluse Mansion. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 26. 3/2 Those Limpid Streams retrieve their Heats, From Earth's recluse Sulphureous Seats. 1782 Contin. Sterne's Sent. Journ., Tuileries (1784) 234 The most recluse retreats..are constantly chosen for these oblations. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 1, I never saw any inhabited places more recluse than these. 1825–9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor III. xxii. 332 Though it lay quite as deep in the clay as Stanbrook Court, it was, in reality, less recluse. |
† b. Of things, actions, etc.: Hidden, secret, private. Obs.
| 1660 N. Ingelo Bentiv. & Ur. ii. vi. (1682) 138 Having made their more recluse Mysteries the exercise of all Unnatural Lust. 1673 Phil. Trans. VIII. 6132 Of the Sensible Natures of Vegetables, as also of their more recluse Faculties and Powers. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. iv. iii. 129 These recluse Parts..ministring to this Sense of Hearing. 1773–83 Hoole Orl. Fur. xliii. 60 When a husband, with too curious eye, Into his wife's recluser deeds would pry. |
† c. Of words or ideas: Recondite. Obs. rare.
| 1748 Hartley Observ. Man i. i. 39 This is a mere Supposition, and that of a very recluse Nature. a 1770 Akenside Let. Wks. (1867) p. lxxxiv, Systems [is] too recluse and subtle a word. |
B. n.
1. a. A person shut up from the world for the purpose of religious meditation; a monk, hermit, anchorite or anchoress, spec. one who remains perpetually shut up in a cell under a vow of strict seclusion. b. One who lives a retired life, one who mixes little with society.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 10 Þe latere dole of his sawe limpeð to recluses. 1395 E.E. Wills 7, I bequethe to the Reclus frere Thomas..xl. s. c 1425 St. Christina xxvi. in Anglia VIII. 129/25 She dwellid nyne ȝeere with a womman reclused..Of þe whiche recluse I hadde many thinges þat I haue writen. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xiii. xvii, This Iustes was done to fore the hermytage where a recluse dwelled. 1574 tr. Littleton's Tenures 92 If there be a recluse that he may not because of his order go out of his house. 1632 Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry iii. i, I will not consent to have you live Like to a recluse in a cloister. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 71 The dayly employment of these Recluses is to trim the lamps. 1750–1 Mrs. Delany Autobiog. & Corr. (1861) III. 22 He is..a plain young man, a recluse in his nature, and very ignorant of the world. 1837 Emerson Addr., Amer. Schol. Wks. (Bohn) II. 180 There goes in the world a notion, that the scholar should be a recluse, a valetudinarian. 1874 H. R. Reynolds John Bapt. iii. §2. 152 He was clothed with the rough hairy garment worn by the recluse and the prophet. |
| transf. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1748) II. 59 The sprightly Morning, which awakens other Animals into Joy, administers no Pleasure to this gloomy Recluse [the owl]. |
c. Comb., as recluse-like adj.
| 1946 E. Blunden Shelley xvii. 213 The fashionable round..did not prevent her from falling under the spell of the recluse-like Shelley. |
† 2. What is shut up; contents, store. Obs. rare.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. xii. 308 Baskettis of seggis me may vse, So they be thykke, and saue ther recluse. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 51 Of crosse nor pile there is no recluse, Prynte nor impressioun in all thy seyntwarye. |
† 3. a. A place of seclusion. Obs.
| 1621 R. Brathwait Nat. Embassie (1877) 88 Hast thou..no Refuge nor no Recluse for thy hope? 1630 ― Eng. Gentlem. (1641) 156 Let our bosome (the recluse of secrets) be like the Lions den in the Apologue. 1658 Sir H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 208 Privacy,..the only recluse of safety,..may become as dangerous as a place of agency. 1772 J. Wise Churches' Quarrel Espoused 65 It is certain, that the church of Christ is the..sacred recluse and peculiar assilum of religion. |
† b. A reservoir for water. Obs.—1
Cf. med.L. reclausa in the same sense (Du Cange).
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 23 b, Heere ebbe the spring-tide of my Teares, Eyes from this present, prepare your selues to be recluses. |
† 4. Reclusion; retirement. Obs.—1
| 1665 Wither Lord's Prayer Preamble, This made me desirous to spend those days of recluse..in what might glorifie God. |
▪ II. † reˈcluse, v. Obs.
[f. L. reclūs-, ppl. stem of reclūdĕre: see prec.]
trans. To shut up, seclude.
| 1382 Wyclif Lev. xiii. 4 The preest shal recluse hym seuen daies. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 116 Til..religious out-ryders [be] reclused in here cloistres. 1450 Rolls of Parlt. V. 195/2 The Priours or Convent of the Howses and places.., in which eny Nonnes are reclused. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 99 b, Beynge reclused or shut vp in a derke prison. a 1631 Donne Annunciation & Passion Poems (1654) 333 She sees..the Virgin mother stay Reclus'd at home. 1657 Trapp Comm. Neh. vi. 10 A house he had in the Temple: and there he had reclused and shut up himself. 1713 C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 95 To Desarts banish'd, or in Cells reclus'd. |