Etymologically
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solitudo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [soː.lɪˈtuː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [so.liˈtuː.do][1]

Forms

sōlitūdō f (genitive sōlitūdinis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin sōlus (“alone”) + -tūdō.[2][1][3] The origin of sōlus is uncertain: de Vaan rejects the link with the reflexive ⟨*s(w)e⟩ “apart” that Walde and Hofmann, Pokorny and Ernout and Meillet proposed, and mentions a Gothic adjective for “happy” and the root of salvus and sollus (“whole”) as possibilities.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[4] who uses it for being without friends: sōlitūdine ego tēd atque ab egestāte apstulī, “I took you away from loneliness and want”.[2] Terence has it for being alone with someone.[2]

Semantic evolution

Sōlitūdō is the state of being alone, solitude, and the state of having no friends or protectors, loneliness, forlornness (Plautus).[2][5] Of places it is emptiness, the deserted state of a place (Terence: sōlitūdō ante ōstium, “nobody at the door”), and then a deserted region, a desert or wilderness, usually in the plural (Cicero: saxa atque sōlitūdinēs vōcī respondent).[2][5][1] It also means want, destitution.[1]

Döderlein says that sōlitūdō is the solitude of a place, neutral or praised, while vāsta, dēserta and tesca loca are words of blame.[6] Church Latin glosses it “solitude, loneliness, wilderness”.[7] English solitude (mid-14th century) comes from it, partly through Old French.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sōlitūdine ego tēd … apstulī.[2][4][8]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: sōlitūdō ante ōstium.[2][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: saxa atque sōlitūdinēs vōcī respondent.[2][8]
  • mid-14th century – English solitude.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Solitude, being alone.[2][5][1][7]
  2. Loneliness, lack of friends or protectors.[2][1][7]
  3. Emptiness, the deserted state (of a place).[2]
  4. A desert, wilderness.[2][5][1][7]
  5. Want, destitution.[1]
  • sōlicanus
  • sōliloquium
  • sōlitāneus
  • sōlitārius
  • sōlitās
  • sōlitātim
  • sōlum
  • sōlummodo
  • sōlus
  • dēsertum
  • English solitude

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b c d Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de