Etymologically
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solitude

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /sɔ.li.tyd/[1]

Forms

solitude f (plural solitudes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin sōlitūdō (“solitude; loneliness; deserted place”), from sōlus (“alone”) (see seul).[2][3][4][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg note that it was rare before the 16th century.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Faits des Romains (1213) speak of the solitude de desert, the state of an uninhabited place.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini (1265) uses it for a deserted place, les grandesimes solitudes et les terres desabitees, and about 1409 it is a place where one lives withdrawn from the world.[2][4] The Ménagier de Paris (about 1393) applies it to a person: a man who amoit fort solitude and wanted no marriage; the GLLF notes that this sense was rare before Monet (1636).[2][7][4]

Voiture (1633) has l'ennui et la solitude for the feeling of being lonely, a sense developed by the Romantics: Vigny calls solitude sainte, and Baudelaire writes of knowing how to people one's solitude.[2][8] Solitude à deux is the isolation of a couple.[8]

Timeline

  • 1213 – The state of a deserted place, in the Faits des Romains.[2]
  • 1265 – A deserted place, in Brunetto Latini.[2]
  • c. 1393 – Of a person living alone, in the Ménagier de Paris.[2]
  • c. 1409 – A place of retreat.[2]
  • 1633 – The feeling of loneliness, in Voiture.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Solitude, the state of being alone: aimer la solitude, vivre dans la solitude.[8][9]
  2. Loneliness, the feeling of being alone and cut off: solitude morale.[9][1]
  3. The quality of a lonely place: la solitude des forêts.[9][4]
  4. (literary) A lonely place; a wilderness.[9][7]
  • solitaire
  • seul
  • Latin sōlitūdō

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 61a
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)