solitude
[sol-i-tood, -tyood]
- the state of being or living alone; seclusion: to enjoy one's solitude.
- remoteness from habitations, as of a place; absence of human activity: the solitude of the mountains.
- a lonely, unfrequented place: a solitude in the mountains.
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Origin of solitude
Synonyms
1. retirement, privacy. Solitude, isolation refer to a state of being or living alone. Solitude emphasizes the quality of being or feeling lonely and deserted: to live in solitude. Isolation may mean merely a detachment and separation from others: to be put in isolation with an infectious disease. 2. loneliness. 3. desert, wilderness.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
solitude
- the state of being solitary or secluded
- poetic a solitary place
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin sōlitūdō, from sōlus alone, sole 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for solitudinous
solitude
n.
mid-14c., from Old French solitude "loneliness" (14c.) and directly from Latin solitudinem (nominative solitudo) "loneliness, a being alone; lonely place, desert, wilderness," from solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)). "Not in common use in English until the 17th c." [OED]
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; ... if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free. [Schopenhauer, "The World as Will and Idea," 1818]
Solitudinarian "recluse, unsocial person" is recorded from 1690s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper