solitarius

Forms

sōlitārius (feminine sōlitāria, neuter sōlitārium, comparative magis sōlitārius, superlative maximē sōlitārius); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin sōlitās (“loneliness”) + -ārius,^[2][1] and that noun comes from sōlus (“alone”).^[1][3] Lewis & Short and VOLI derive it directly from the adjective.^[4][5] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that adjective, from Varro on,^[3] whose own origin is unclear: he finds a link with the reflexive pronoun hardly possible and suggests that it might belong with the root of salvus and sollus (“whole”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Varro,^[3][2] who writes that bees are not solitary by nature, like eagles, but like human beings (apēs nōn sunt sōlitāriā nātūrā, ut aquilae, sed ut hominēs).^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Cicero uses it of a man living by himself in the country (sōlitārius homō atque in agrō vītam agēns) and writes that nature loves nothing solitary (nātūra sōlitārium nihil amat);^[4] he also applies it to things that stand alone, such as an isolated judgement or a nature that is not joined with another.^[2][6] Quintilian speaks of a solitary life spent in the shade,^[2][4] Pliny the Younger of a dinner eaten alone,^[4] and Gellius of a word with one sole meaning.^[2] Lactantius and Minucius Felix use it of a deserted, solitary god.^[4][7]

In Christian Latin the masculine became a noun for an anchorite or hermit.^[8][9] In medieval Britain Bede and Alcuin use it of those who live alone, and bellum sōlitārium meant single combat.^[10] It survives in Italian solitario.^[6]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of animals that live alone.^[2][11]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of people living alone and of isolated things.^[4][2][11]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian speaks of a solitary life.^[2][11]
• c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it for “one and only”.^[2][11]
• c. 250–317 AD – Lactantius uses it of a solitary god.^[4][11]
• first third of the 8th century AD – Bede uses it of a man living alone.^[10][11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Living or acting on one's own, solitary, lonely.^[2][4]
2. Practised without a companion; of combat, single.^[2][10]
3. Occurring singly, standing on its own, isolated.^[2][6]
4. Not combined with anything else, simple.^[2]
5. One and only, sole.^[2]
6. (Ecclesiastical Latin, as a noun) An anchorite, a hermit.^[8][9]

Related words

• sōlitūdō
• English solitary

Usage notes

Lewis & Short give singulāris as a synonym, and Apuleius pairs the two near-synonyms in sōlus ac sōlitārius.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de