solatium
Americannoun
plural
solatia-
something given in compensation for inconvenience, loss, injury, or the like; recompense.
-
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
These gentlemen were most of them waiting for College livings, to which they were allowed to carry off, as a solatium, some dozens of College port.
From The Victorian Age The Rede Lecture for 1922 by Inge, William Ralph
As a solatium he was allowed to rule over the town of Guadix, whither he retired.
From Southern Spain by Calvert, A. F. (Albert Frederick)
A dozen commonplace legs were offered the dog; it might have tasted the lot and procured no more pother than the passing of a few shillings, the solatium of a pair of trousers or so.
From The Happy Warrior by Hutchinson, A. S. M. (Arthur Stuart-Menteth)
Strong interest was made in favour of mercy, but the College deprived him of his Fellowship, granting him, not too consistently, a solatium of £300.
From A History of Nineteenth Century Literature (1780-1895) by Saintsbury, George
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.
