solemn

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English solempne, also solemne,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French solempne, solemne, and directly borrowed from Latin sollemnis (“established, appointed, customary, festive”),^[5][3][2] also written sollennis and sollempnis.^[5][2] The Anglo-Norman adjective is recorded from about 1270, meaning solemn, ceremonial, formal and of great weight.^[6] The French word was later replaced by its derivative, Modern French solennel.^[3][7][8] Etymonline, Hoad and the Shorter Oxford derive the Latin adjective from sollus (“whole, entire”),^{[3][9][10][11]} from Proto-Indo-European *sol- (“whole, well-kept”),^[3][12] but the ending is unexplained.^[10][3] The old explanation, going back to the Roman grammarian Festus, that it is sollus with annus (“year”), so that the word first meant "taking place every year", is still given by Skeat, Weekley and Klein,^[13][7][8] but Barnhart, citing Ernout and Meillet, says that modern scholars reject it,^[4] and the OED takes the variant sollennis as due to assimilation or to the influence of other adjectives in -ennis.^[5] Merriam-Webster takes sollus from Oscan.^[14] The unetymological -p- of the Middle English spelling solempne is also found in other words with “-mn-”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of vows and oaths, made under a religious sanction: about 1315, in the poems of William of Shoreham.^[5] Barnhart dates solempne, connected with religion, formal, ceremonial, in Shoreham's poetry, to before 1333,^[4][15] and Etymonline gives the middle of the 14th century for "performed with due religious ceremony or reverence; sacred".^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word belonged to religious rites, to holy days and seasons (about 1325) and to special church services (1338);^[5][2] from Chaucer's Book of the Duchess (about 1369) it was also used of anything done with due formality or ceremony.^[5] Chaucer used solempne twelve times, for ceremonious, splendid, impressive and dignified;^[16] in Middle English it could mean grand or sumptuous, important, and famous (until the 1590s),^[5][3] which Etymonline sees in Chaucer's friar, "a ful solempne man".^[3] Without reference to religion, the sense "serious, grave, earnest" appears in the late 14th century,^[3][4] and "inspiring awe or devout reflection" about 1400.^[3] Johnson (1755) still put first the sense "anniversary; observed once a year with religious ceremonies", followed by "religiously grave", "awful; striking with seriousness" and "affectedly serious".^[17] Weekley notes that the word now usually suggests gloom or austerity, while the original sense survives in the verb solemnize, as of a marriage.^[7] In Cheshire dialect solemn meant mournful ("a very solemn winter"), and a solemn David was an affidavit.^[18] The adverb solemn, solemnly, is recorded from 1743,^[14] and a verb solemn, to solemnize, from 1483 to 1555.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1315 – of vows or oaths, made under a religious sanction (Shoreham).^[5]
• c. 1325 – of days or seasons, marked by religious observances.^[5]
• before 1333 – solempne, connected with religion, formal, ceremonial (Barnhart's date).^[4]
• 1338 – of special church ceremonies or services.^[5]
• before 1340 – associated with religious rites; sacred.^[5]
• c. 1369 – formal, ceremonious (Chaucer).^[5]
• before 1375 – serious, grave, earnest.^[4][15]
• c. 1386 – grand, imposing, sumptuous (obsolete by 1595).^[5]
• c. 1400 – inspiring awe or devout reflection.^[3]
• 1420 – of statements, agreements and documents.^[5]
• 1483 – verb, to solemnize (obsolete by 1555).^[5]
• 1743 – adverb, solemnly.^[14]
• 1755 – Johnson's first sense: observed once a year with religious ceremonies.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Serious and sincere; made in full awareness of what it involves, often under a religious sanction: He gave his solemn word that he would come back.^[19][14]
2. Performed with ceremony, pomp or formality.^[19][5]
3. Performed with religious rites; sacred.^[19][5][14]
4. Grave or unsmiling in manner; sometimes pompous.^[19][14]
5. Inspiring awe: a solemn moment in the cathedral.^[19][3]
6. Dark or sombre in tone: solemn shades of grey.^[19]
7. (law) Made in due form so as to be legally binding.^[14][5]
8. (obsolete, 1386–1596) Grand, imposing; of great dignity or importance; famous.^[5][3][16]

Word family

• solemnly
• solemnness
• oversolemn
• semisolemn
• solemn mass

Related words

• solemnize
• solemnity
• solicit
• safe

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
13. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
16. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
17. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
18. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
19. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins