solicit

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English soliciten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French solliciter, also soliciter,^[5][6][2] and directly borrowed from Latin sollicitō (“to disturb, agitate, rouse, harass”),^[5][6][2] from sollicitus (“agitated, anxious”).^[6][3][7] The Latin adjective is formed from sollus (“whole, entire”) and citus (“set in motion”), the past participle of cieō (“to set in motion, rouse”), and so meant literally "wholly moved".^{[7][8][9][10]} Etymonline traces the two parts to Proto-Indo-European *sol- (“whole, well-kept”) and Proto-Indo-European *keie- (“to set in motion”);^[6] Merriam-Webster takes the first part as Oscan in origin,^[11] and Barnhart relates it to salvus (“safe”).^[4] In Medieval Latin the verb also meant to look after something,^[9][12] and Merriam-Webster notes that the French verb meant both to disturb and to take care of.^[11] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1360–79, meaning to urge, to further a cause and to be anxious about.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To trouble or disturb someone, or to draw someone away, entice: about 1422, in Hoccleve.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The sense "to further business affairs", recorded in Middle English and by Barnhart from 1450, came from a French sense "to manage affairs";^[2][4][6] Ayto notes that it lies behind solicitor.^[7] The original sense, to disturb or make anxious, lasted until 1788,^[5] and gave rise in the 16th century to troubling someone with requests:^[7] to entreat or petition someone is recorded from 1509 in Barnhart, 1530 in the OED.^[4][5] From 1565 it meant to incite someone to lawlessness,^[5] and in 1592 it first meant to allure by argument.^[5] Men were said to solicit a woman, to court her with immoral intentions, from 1600, in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing,^[5] or the 1590s in Etymonline.^[6] The sense of a prostitute accosting men is recorded from 1710, in Steele's Tatler,^[5][6] and Etymonline suggests it may play on the business sense.^[6] Johnson (1755) gave "to importune; to intreat" as the first sense.^[14]

Timeline

• c. 1422 – to trouble, disturb; to draw away, entice.^[2][4]
• 1450 – to further business affairs.^[4][2]
• 1509 – to entreat, petition.^[4] The OED's first record is from 1530.^[5]
• 1565 – to incite to lawlessness.^[5]
• 1600 – to court a woman with immoral intent.^[5]
• 1665 – of things, to tempt, entice.^[5]
• 1697 – to draw out a dart gently (obsolete by 1785).^[5]
• 1710 – of prostitutes, to accost men.^[5][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask for something, such as money, help, business or votes, or to ask a person for it; to petition or entreat: The charity solicited donations from local firms.^[15][11][5]
2. To approach people with a request or offer, as when selling or begging.^[11][15]
3. Of a prostitute: to approach someone and offer sex for money.^[15][5]
4. To urge or incite someone to do something wrong or illegal.^[15][5]
5. To tempt or entice; to attract.^[5][11]
6. (archaic) To manage or look after business; to act as solicitor for.^[11][2]
7. (archaic) To disturb or make anxious.^[11][5]

Word family

• solicitation
• resolicit
• unsolicited

Related words

• solicitor
• solicitous
• solicitude
• cite
• excite
• solemn
• insouciant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins