Definition:
female equivalent of anchorite; a woman who withdraws from secular life for religious purposes, a female religious hermit or recluse. Anchoresses lived in seclusion, often in remote locations or walled into a room with only a shuttered window through which food was passed; the room was often connected to a church.
The position of anchorite is still recognized in canon law of the Roman Catholic church as one form of consecrated life.
Examples:
Julian of Norwich was an anchoress; she did not live in complete seclusion though she was walled into her chamber. The chamber was connected to a church, she had a servant walled in with her and she sometimes advised pilgrims and other visitors.
