'hermitlike' originates from English, specifically the combination of the noun 'hermit' and the suffix '-like', where 'hermit' meant 'a religious recluse' and '-like' meant 'characteristic of' or 'resembling'.

'Hermit' comes from Middle English 'hermite' (Old French 'ermite'), from Late Latin 'eremita', ultimately from Greek 'eremites' (from 'eremos' meaning 'desert' or 'solitary place'). The adjective 'hermitlike' was formed in English by adding the productive suffix '-like' to 'hermit' to indicate likeness.

Initially the root referred to someone living in the desert ('eremites'), then to a person living in solitude for religious reasons ('hermit'); over time the compound 'hermitlike' came to mean 'resembling or characteristic of a hermit' (i.e., solitary or reclusive).