retreatant

1 9.6

A person who spends time in a quiet place to pray and think

noun
/rɪˈtriːtənt/

: retirante

fellow retreatant

Examples

Soon, the dissident families took to disrupting the retreats, confiscating furniture and food while assuring the retreatants that Day had betrayed the vision of Peter Maurin.

Academic text (2007)
During the quiet moments of the weekend, each retreatant reflected on their personal journey and spiritual goals.
As a retreatant, she hoped to deepen her understanding of faith through meditation and shared experiences with others.
The group of retreatants shared their insights during discussions, fostering a supportive environment for spiritual growth.

Surface Forms

retreatant singular

retreatants plural

Morphology

retreatant = retreat (transparent) = retreat + ant

Formed from 'retreat' + agentive suffix '-ant', yielding 'a person who attends or takes part in a retreat', which is directly inferable from the base.

Etymology

Retreatant comes from retreat, which means 'to move back' or to leave everyday life for a quiet place, plus the ending -ant, which means 'one who'. So a retreatant is 'one who steps back' from daily life to be quiet and think, which is why it means a person who goes on a religious retreat.