solitude

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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English solitude, from Old French solitude. By surface analysis, sole +‎ -itude.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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solitude (countable and uncountable, plural solitudes)

  1. Aloneness; the state of being alone, solitary, or by oneself.
    Synonym: aloneness
    Antonym: intimacy
  2. A lonely or deserted place.
    • 1813, Lord Byron, Bride of Abydos, Canto 2, stanza 20:
      Mark where his carnage and his conquests cease!
      He makes a solitude, and calls it — peace.
    • 1874, Georg August Schweinfurth, chapter I, in Ellen E. Frewer, transl., The Heart of Africa: Three Years' Travels and Adventures in the Unexplored Regions of Central Africa, from 1868 to 1871[1], second edition, volume I, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, And Searle, translation of Im Herzen von Afrika, Botanical Ardour:
      [S]uch an one [] recalls as a vision of Paradise the land he has learnt to love; he exaggerates the insalubrity of a northern climate; he bewails the wretched formality of our civilised life, and so, back to the distant solitudes flies his recollection like a dove to the wilderness.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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From Old French solitude (13th c.), a borrowing from Latin sōlitūdō.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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solitude f (plural solitudes)

  1. solitude
  2. loneliness
    • 1969, “Ma solitude”, in Georges Moustaki (lyrics), Le Métèque, performed by Georges Moustaki:
      Elle m’a suivi çà et là / Aux quatre coins du monde / Non, je ne suis jamais seul / Avec ma solitude
      She followed me hither and yon / To the four corners of the world / No, I am never alone / With my solitude

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Old French

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Noun

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solitude oblique singularf (nominative singular solitude)

  1. solitude

Descendants

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  • English: solitude
  • French: solitude

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin sōlitūdō, corresponding to sōlus (alone) + -tūdō.

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: so‧li‧tu‧de

Noun

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solitude f (plural solitudes)

  1. solitude
    Synonym: solidão
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