sol

sol¹ musical note

Etymology tree of sol¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin luō

Latin solvō

Spanish solver

English solve

Italian sol

From the same root · sol¹

Latin abluō ← luō

Latin ēluō ← luō

English unsolved ← solvō

French sol ← solvō

Latin absolvō ← solvō

Latin dissolvō ← solvō

Latin exsolvō ← solvō

Latin īnsolūbilis ← solvō

Latin persolvō ← solvō

Latin resolvō ← solvō

Latin solūbilis ← solvō

Latin solūtiō ← solvō

Latin solūtus ← solvō

Pronunciation

• /ˈsɔl/^[1]

Forms

sol m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the musical note is borrowed from Latin solve (“loosen!”), the first syllable of the Latin imperative that opens a half-line of the hymn to Saint John the Baptist by Paul the Deacon, the hymn from which Guido d'Arezzo took the names of the notes.^[2][3][4][1] The line is ⟨solve polluti labii reatum⟩, “loosen the guilt of the stained lip”.^[5][6] DELI, GRADIT and Treccani count it as the fifth half-line of the hymn, Nocentini and Zingarelli as the third line.^{[2][3][7][5][6]} The hymn begins ⟨Ut queant laxis resonare fibris⟩, and Guido drew the note names from it in the 11th century.^[8]

The other notes were named from the same hymn, as do, re and fa were.^[2][5][9] DEI notes that the name had reached French by the 13th century, and compares solfa.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DIFIT records sol in a musical lexicon dated 1420–1447, as the fifth note of the natural major scale of C.^[11] DELI and GRADIT date the first literary record to about 1506, in Machiavelli, who lists the sung syllables ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la.^[2][3][8]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the note also appears as solle, in rhyme, in Allegri's verse.^[10][12] Joined with the other note names, sol could stand for music, a song, or the first rudiments of music.^[8]

Beside the note itself, the word names the string or key of an instrument that sounds it, and the key with that note as its tonic, as in sol maggiore and sol minore.^[3][7][12] Chiave di sol is the treble clef.^[3][8] Treccani notes that the Latin countries use the syllable name, while German and English keep the old letter G.^[7] German recorded sol as a musical term in 1732.^[11]

Timeline

• 1420–1447 – Sol is recorded in a musical lexicon.^[11]
• About 1506 – Machiavelli lists sol among the sung syllables.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Allegri writes solle in rhyme.^[10][12]
• 1732 – German sol is recorded as a musical term.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. (music) The note G, sol: the fifth note of the natural scale of C in the solfeggio names used in Latin countries: un sol diesis.^[3][9][4][1]
2. (music) The string or key of an instrument that sounds this note.^[3][7]
3. (music) The key with this note as its tonic: una sonata in sol minore.^[3][12]

Word family

• solfa

sol² colloid

Pronunciation

• /ˈsɔl/^[1]

Forms

sol m (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the colloid is borrowed from English sol, recorded in English in 1899.^[2][3][1] English took it from hydrosol, a compound of hydro- (“water”) and the first syllable of solution.^[2][5][3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and GRADIT date the Italian word to 1950, in Migliorini's appendix to the Panzini dictionary, with the sense “a very fine suspension of colloidal substances in water or another liquid”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to chemistry and physics, where it names a colloid in liquid form, as against the semisolid gel.^[9][13] Migliorini also listed the compounds aerosòl, idrosòl, alcoolsòl and eterosòl, and a variant sòle.^[8] A sol metallico is a colloidal solution of a metal.^[8]

Timeline

• 1899 – English sol is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1950 – Italian sol appears in Migliorini's appendix.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry, physics) sol: a colloid in liquid form, a solid dispersed in a liquid.^{[3][9][13][14]}