"to rest or place on or as on a pillow," 1620s, from pillow (n.). Related: Pillowed; pillowing.

a wish or prayer for the repose of the dead, from the Latin phrase requiescat in pace (often abbreviated R.I.P.), literally "may he (or she) begin to rest in peace," with third person singular inceptive (or subjunctive) of requies "rest, repose" (see requiem). The phrase is "frequent in sepulchral inscriptions" [Century Dictionary].

"mass for repose of the soul of the dead," c. 1300, from Latin requiem, accusative singular of requies "rest (after labor), repose," from re-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see re-), + quies "quiet" (from suffixed form of PIE root *kweie- "to rest, be quiet"). It is the first word of the Mass for the Dead in the Latin liturgy: Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine .... ["Rest eternal grant them, O Lord ...."]. By 1610s as "any dirge or solemn chant for repose of the dead."

"without motion, being at rest," 1590s, from motion (n.) + -less. Related: Motionlessly; motionlessness.

"attended by or affording ease; promoting rest or comfort; quiet, peaceful, restful," late 14c., from ease (n.) + -ful.

early 12c., "religious recluse, one who dwells apart in a solitary place for religious meditation," from Old French hermit, ermit "hermit, recluse," from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally "person of the desert," from eremia "a solitude, an uninhabited region, a waste," from erēmos "uninhabited, empty, desolate, bereft," from PIE *erem- "to rest, be quiet" (source also of Sanskrit ramate "to rest;" Lithuanian rimti "to be quiet," Gothic rimis "rest," Old Irish fo-rimim "to set, lay"). The unetymological h- first appeared in Medieval Latin heremite.

Transferred sense of "person living in solitude" is from 1799. Related: Hermitic; hermitical. The hermit crab (1735) is said to be so called for its seeking out and dwelling in a solitary cell.