Etymologically
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solo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈsəʊ.ləʊ/, US /ˈsoʊ.loʊ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian solo (“alone; a piece for one voice or instrument”),[2][3] from Latin sōlus (“alone”),[2][3][4] the source of sole “single”.[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A piece of music for one voice or instrument: 1695, in Congreve's Love for Love.[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

A performance by a single person is from 1779,[3][6] and a dance by one person from 1794.[2][6] As an adjective it is from 1712, at first in the non-musical sense “alone, unassisted”,[2] though Barnhart dates the adjective from 1776, in Burney, of music for one voice.[3] The general sense “without a companion”, as in a solo flight, is first recorded in 1909,[3][2] and to fly solo in 1917.[3] The verb is from 1858 in music,[3][2] and 1886 in a non-musical sense, as of climbing alone.[2][6] Soloist is from 1864.[3] A card game in which one player plays against the others is also called solo.[8][9]

Timeline

  • 1695 – a piece for one performer.[3][6]
  • 1712 – adjective, alone.[2]
  • 1779 – a performance by one person.[3][6]
  • 1794 – a solo dance.[2][6]
  • 1858 – verb, to play a solo.[3][2]
  • 1864 – soloist.[3]
  • 1909 – a solo flight.[3][2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A piece or passage of music for one voice or instrument, with or without accompaniment.
  2. A performance by one person.
  3. A card game in which one player opposes the others.

Adjective

  1. Composed for or performed by a single voice or instrument.
  2. Done by one person alone: a solo voyage.

Adverb

  1. Alone; without a companion: flew solo.

Verb

  1. To perform a solo.
  2. To fly an aircraft alone, especially for the first time.

Word family

  • soloist
  • solo whist
  • solitaire
  • sole
  • solitary
  • solitude
  • desolate

Usage notes

Solo man, capitalized, is a fossil hominid found near the Solo River in Java in 1931–33.[6][9]

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 l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press