Legacy of male absent from retreat (8)
I believe the answer is:
heritage
'legacy' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'male absent from retreat' is the wordplay.
'male' becomes 'm' (common abbreviation).
'absent from' suggests deleting specific letters.
'retreat' becomes 'hermitage' (a hermitage may be a religious retreat).
'hermitage' with 'm' taken out is 'HERITAGE'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for heritage that I've seen before include "Received culture and background" , "Property or practices passed down" , "Valued survivals from the past" , "Family property" , "That which is passed down from ancestors" .)