solitary

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English solitarie,^[2] borrowed from Latin sōlitārius (“alone, lonely, isolated”),^[3][4][5][6] partly through Anglo-Norman solitarye and solitaire.^[2][7][8] The Latin adjective is formed on sōlitās (“loneliness, solitude”), from sōlus (“alone”),^[2][7][9][5] the source of sole, with the suffix -ary.^[10][4] French solitaire was later borrowed separately as solitaire.^[9][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quite alone, unaccompanied: about 1340, in Richard Rolle's Psalter.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

Soon after, the word described someone who keeps apart from others by choice (1393, in Langland),^[3] and places that are remote and unfrequented (late 14th century, in Chaucer's Boethius).^[3][2] The noun, a hermit or recluse, is recorded from 1435, in Misyn's translation of Rolle, or before 1396 in Barnhart.^[3][7] The meaning "single, only", as in "a solitary example", dates from 1748, in Gray,^[3] by 1742 in Etymonline.^[2] Solitary confinement is recorded by the 1690s, and the short form solitary by 1854, in Dickens's Hard Times.^[2][3] Green's dictionary records it as prison slang for that confinement from the early 19th century.^[12] In science the word describes plants or flowers growing singly (1796) and animals that do not live in colonies.^[3][13]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – alone, unaccompanied.^[3][7]
• late 14th century – of places, remote and unfrequented.^[2][3]
• 1393 – keeping apart from society.^[3]
• before 1396 – noun, a hermit, recluse.^[7]
• 1690s – solitary confinement.^[2]
• 1748 – single, sole.^[3]
• 1796 – (botany) growing singly.^[3]
• 1854 – noun, solitary confinement.^[3][2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Living, being or done alone: He enjoyed a solitary walk along the cliffs.
2. Preferring to be alone; lonely or without companions.
3. Of a place: remote and rarely visited.
4. Single; only: Not a solitary car passed all morning.
5. (zoology) Of animals: not living in colonies or groups: solitary bees.
6. (botany) Growing singly, not in clusters.

Noun

1. A person who lives alone; a hermit or recluse.
2. (informal) Solitary confinement.

Word family

• solitarily
• solitariness
• unsolitary
• solitary confinement
• solitary wasp
• solitary wave

Related words

• sole
• solitude
• solitaire
• solo
• desolate

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins