solatium
Americannoun
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something given in compensation for inconvenience, loss, injury, or the like; recompense.
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Law. damages awarded to a plaintiff as compensation for personal suffering or grief arising from an injury.
noun
Etymology
Origin of solatium
1810–20; < Medieval Latin sōlātium, variant spelling of sōlācium, Latin: solace
Explanation
A solatium is compensation given to comfort someone who has suffered a loss or injury due to someone else's actions. In court, solatium is a sum of money awarded to a plaintiff for pain and suffering. The word solatium is borrowed from Latin, where the word means solace, "comfort offered to or felt by someone who is disappointed or miserable." A grieving person may "take solatium in" — feel comforted by — the knowledge that a deceased loved one lived a joyful life. In a legal situation, a judge or jury may order that a solatium (usually money) be paid by a person or company who caused harm to the person or people who suffered from it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Synonyms: amends, restitution, redress, compensation, recompense, damages, solatium, repayment, atonement, indemnification, indemnity.
From Washington Times • Nov. 12, 2021
This was the man's way of looking at the question; the boy's future should be provided for, he should have a fine estate left him by way of solatium.
From The Lovels of Arden by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)
Whether this was true or was only meant as a solatium I do not know.
From My Autobiography A Fragment by Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Perhaps Jimmy himself would not care much about such a solatium.
From Quisanté by Hope, Anthony
I administered the solatium; then I placed Denis on the box of the car with the bicycle-lamp in his hand, and drove my family home.
From Further Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Ross, Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
