a small monastery; usually a close-knit “family” with the abbot or abbess as its head.
(from Gr., asketerios, "hermitage," "monastery"): a term denoting a small monastery; a community of monks living outside of the parent monastery; a monastic dependency.
A skete is a group of hermits following a monastic rule, allowing them to worship in comparative solitude, although with a level of support present not available for a lone hermit.