ascetic : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: ascetic	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for ascetic
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
ascetic adj pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline; "ascetic practices" Synonym(s): ascetic, ascetical practicing great self-denial; "Be systematically ascetic...do...something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it"- William James; "a desert nomad's austere life"; "a spartan diet"; "a spartan existence" Synonym(s): ascetic, ascetical, austere, spartan n someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline Synonym(s): abstainer, ascetic
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ascetic \Ascet"ic\a. [Gr. [?], fr. [?] to exercise, to practice gymnastics.] Extremely rigid in self-denial and devotions; austere; severe. The stern ascetic* rigor of the Temple discipline. --Sir W. Scott.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Ascetic \Ascet"ic\, n. In the early church, one who devoted himself to a solitary and contemplative life, characterized by devotion, extreme self-denial, and self-mortification; a hermit; a recluse; hence, one who practices extreme rigor and self-denial in religious things. I am far from commending those ascetics that take up their quarters in deserts. --Norris. {Ascetic* theology}, the science which treats of the practice of the theological and moral virtues, and the counsels of perfection. --Am. Cyc.