solar

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsəʊ.lə/, US /ˈsoʊ.lɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sōlāris (“of the sun”),^[2][3][4] from sōl “sun”,^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *sawel- (“sun”).^[2] Latin sōl is cognate with Old Norse sól, Gothic sauil, Greek hḗlios, Welsh haul, Lithuanian sáulė and Sanskrit sūra-,^[3][4] and English sun is from the same root.^[5] It is related to solstice, parasol and solarium.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to the sun, its course, light or heat: about 1450 in the OED and Barnhart,^[6][3] the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[2] The earlier English word was Old English sunlic, Middle English sonneli.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Time measured by the sun's course is from 1594.^[6] The solar system is from before 1704, in Locke.^[3] Operated by means of the sun's light or heat is from 1740.^[2][6] Solar power is from 1908 in Barnhart and 1915 in Etymonline,^[3][2] and the photovoltaic solar cell from 1955.^[3][2] The use of the sun's rays as a source of energy, as in solar heating, is from 1972 in the OED.^[6] In astrology it means subject to the influence of the sun (1626).^[6][7]

Timeline

• c. 1450 – of the sun.^[6][3]
• 1594 – of time, fixed by the sun.^[6]
• 1626 – in astrology.^[6]
• a. 1704 – solar system.^[3]
• 1740 – worked by the sun's heat.^[2][6]
• 1908 – solar power.^[3]
• 1955 – solar cell.^[3][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or coming from the sun: a solar eclipse.
2. Using or worked by energy from the sun: solar panels.
3. Measured by the earth's motion relative to the sun: the solar year.

Word family

• circumsolar
• nonsolar
• presolar
• solarism
• solunar
• supersolar
• unsolar
• antisolar

Related words

• sun
• solstice
• parasol
• solarium
• helium

Usage notes

A different word solar, an upper room in a medieval house, is from Old English soler, from Latin sōlārium “terrace, gallery”.^[2][8][4]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press