entry
solitude
/ˈsɒlɪtjuːd/State of being alone or secluded
From Latin via Old French sole (alone) + Latin itude (abstract noun suffix).
from Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Latin sōlitūdō. By surface analysis, sole + -itude.
from Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Latin sōlitūdō. By surface analysis, sole + -itude.
from Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourcefrom Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly
+1 more sourceSolitude is one of those words that looks plain until you peek inside and find a little machine built from Latin. The first gear is solus, “alone,” which also gives us solitary and the lonely-sounding soliloquy; the second is the abstract noun ending -itūdō, the same sort of factory that stamps out words like fortitude and magnitude. In medieval French, that pairing produced solitude, and English borrowed it in the 1300s, though the OED says it wasn’t really common until the 1600s. There’s a nice irony here: the word sounds almost serene, but it can describe either a mountain cabin or a wilderness of empty company. Schopenhauer was already using that tension in 1818, and the punchline is still the same—solitude can feel like freedom, or like a room with the door quietly shut.
The Story
Solitude is one of those words that looks plain until you peek inside and find a little machine built from Latin. The first gear is solus, “alone,” which also gives us solitary and the lonely-sounding soliloquy; the second is the abstract noun ending -itūdō, the same sort of factory that stamps out words like fortitude and magnitude. In medieval French, that pairing produced solitude, and English borrowed it in the 1300s, though the OED says it wasn’t really common until the 1600s. There’s a nice irony here: the word sounds almost serene, but it can describe either a mountain cabin or a wilderness of empty company. Schopenhauer was already using that tension in 1818, and the punchline is still the same—solitude can feel like freedom, or like a room with the door quietly shut.
Kin & Kindred
From 'sole'·alone, single
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'itude'·abstract noun suffix
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wikipedia
Wiktionary