The word for today is…

ascetic (adjective) –

1 : practicing strict self-denial as a measure of personal and especially spiritual discipline
2 : austere in appearance, manner, or attitude

Source : Merriam -Webster

Etymology : Ascetic comes from “ask?tikos,” a Greek adjective meaning “laborious,” and ultimately traces back to the Greek verb askein, which means “exercise” or “work.” There aren’t many other English words from “askein,” but there’s no dearth of synonyms for “ascetic.” “Severe” and “austere,” for example, are two words that share with “ascetic” the basic meaning “given to or marked by strict discipline and firm restraint.” “Ascetic” implies abstention from pleasure, comfort, or self-indulgence as a spiritual discipline, whereas “severe” implies standards enforced without indulgence or laxity and may suggest harshness (as in “severe military discipline”). “Austere” stresses absence of warmth, color, or feeling and may apply to rigorous restraint, simplicity, or self-denial (as in “living an austere life in the country”).

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David is a retired surgeon originally from London who came to New Zealand twenty-seven years ago after being delayed in Singapore for thirteen years on leaving the UK. He was coerced into studying Latin...