Meanings
plural poustinias
- In Christian spirituality, a small sparsely furnished cabin or room where a person goes to fast and pray, but which is less austere than a hermitage.
1 more example
Yes, that "doing something more" can be the poustinia: an entry into the desert, a lonely place, a silent place, where one can lift the two arms of prayer and penance to God in atonement, intercession, reparation for one's sins and those of one's brothers.... To go into the poustinia means to listen to God. It means entering into kenosis—the emptying of oneself.
1975, Catherine Doherty, Poustinia
Origin
- Russianпусты́ня“desert”
- Englishpoustinia
From the Russian пусты́ня (pustýnja, “desert”).
More words from Russian
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
poustinia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poustinia
“poustinia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poustinia. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “poustinia,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/poustinia.
Source: poustinia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.