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two solitudes

British  

noun

  1. a term for the situation of English and French Canada, considered as socially and culturally isolated from each other

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of two solitudes

C20: from Two Solitudes , a novel by Canadian writer Hugh MacLennan (1907–90)

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.

Who better to offer up an olive branch that can ease the hitherto irreconcilable tensions between Canada’s two solitudes?

From The Guardian • Jan. 10, 2020

They are not two solitudes but symbiotic social systems of governance.

From New York Times • Oct. 13, 2014

Trudeau dreamed of a Canada that was not a country of two solitudes but rather a nation of pluralism.

From Time Magazine Archive

Novelist MacLennan described the historical relationship between French-and English-speaking Canadians as "the two solitudes."

From Time Magazine Archive

She is not often seen in the garden: dividing her time between the two solitudes of her own room and of long and lonely walks.

From Doctor Cupid by Broughton, Rhoda