Dictionary

solitude en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈsɔlɪˌtjʉwd/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈsɔlɪˌt͡ʃʉwd/ (British, Southern, Standard)
• /ˈsɒlɪˌtjuːd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• /ˈsɑlɪˌtud/ (General-American)

Etymology

From Middle English solitude, from Old French solitude, from Latin sōlitūdō. By surface analysis, sole + -itude.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Aloneness; the state of being alone, solitary, or by oneself.
   • Cranks like Rousseau made solitude glamorous, but sensible people agreed that it was really terrible. 1975, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →ISBN, page 193:
   • As much as I definitely enjoy solitude / I wouldn't mind perhaps / Spending little time with you 1995, “Possibly Maybe”, in Post, performed by Björk:
   • Now the New Year reviving old Desires, The thoughtful Soul to Solitude retires, Where the White Hand of Moses on the Bough Puts out, and Jesus from the Ground suspires. 1859, Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám: The Astronomer-Poet of Persia, page 2:
2. (countable, uncountable) A lonely or deserted place.
   • [S]uch an one […] recalls as a vision of Paradise the land he has learnt to love; he exaggerates the insalubrity of a northern climate; he bewails the wretched formality of our civilised life, and so, back to the distant solitudes flies his recollection like a dove to the wilderness. 1874, Georg August Schweinfurth, chapter I, in Ellen E. Frewer, transl., The Heart of Africa: Three Years' Travels and Adventures in the Unexplored Regions of Central Africa, from 1868 to 1871, second edition, volume I, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Low, And Searle, translation of Im Herzen von Afrika, Botanical Ardour:
   • Mark where his carnage and his conquests cease! He makes a solitude, and calls it — peace. 1813, Lord Byron, Bride of Abydos, Canto 2, stanza 20:

Forms

Antonyms

closeness · intimacy · intimacy · togetherness

Deriveds

solitudinal · solitudinarian · two solitudes

Hyponyms

friendlessness · companionlessness

Relateds

solitudinous · solo · sole · by oneself · solitary · uniqueness · solitudinously · loneliness · soliloquy · solitarily

Synonyms

seclusion · solitariness · back of beyond · bumfuck · onlyhood · onehead · onliness · hermitage · oneship · corner · aloneness · hidey-hole · loneness · hermitry · loneliness · seclusion · seclusion · isolation · aloneness · solitude

Translations (76)

ota یالڭزلك (state of being alone) · hu magány (state of being alone) · km វិវេកភាព (state of being alone) · he בדידות (state of being alone) · th ความโดดเดี่ยว (state of being alone) · el μοναξιά (state of being alone) · ky жалгыздык (state of being alone) · de Alleinsein (state of being alone) · de Einsamkeit (state of being alone) · tk ýalnyzlyk (state of being alone) · cmn 孤獨 /孤独 (state of being alone) · vi sự cô độc (state of being alone) · pt solitude (state of being alone) · is einsemd (state of being alone) · pt solidão (state of being alone) · sl samota (state of being alone) · fr solitude (state of being alone) · it solitudine (state of being alone) · ga aonaracht (state of being alone) · ja 孤独 (state of being alone) · pl odosobnienie (state of being alone) · la solitās (state of being alone) · sv ensamhet (state of being alone) · es solitud (state of being alone) · bo དབེན་པ (state of being alone) · cmn 孑然 (state of being alone) · kk жалқылық (state of being alone) · km ភាពឯកោ (state of being alone) · uk самотність (state of being alone) · rup singureatsã (state of being alone) · tl pag-iisa (state of being alone) · sa रहस् (state of being alone) · ro solitudine (state of being alone) · sah соҕотохсуйуу (state of being alone) · ru уединение (state of being alone) · lv vienatnība (state of being alone) · uz yolg‘izlik (state of being alone) · ko 고독 (state of being alone) · ru одиночество (state of being alone) · az təklik (state of being alone) · ba яңғыҙлыҡ (state of being alone) · et üksindus (state of being alone) · ang ānād (state of being alone) · cmn 自處 /自处 (state of being alone) · am ብቸኛነት (state of being alone) · grc ἐρημία (state of being alone) · bg Самота (state of being alone) · cs samota (state of being alone) · nl eenzaamheid (state of being alone) · te ఏకాంతము (state of being alone) · la solitudo (state of being alone) · ml ഏകാന്തത (state of being alone) · sk samota (state of being alone) · ca solitud (state of being alone) · tr yalnızlık (state of being alone) · eo soleco (state of being alone) · da ensomhed (state of being alone) · ro singurătate (state of being alone) · kk жалғыздық (state of being alone) · fi yksinäisyys (state of being alone) · mk самотија (state of being alone) · fo einsemi (state of being alone) · ar عُزْلَة (state of being alone) · sh osama (state of being alone) · id kesepian (state of being alone) · tt yalğızlıq (state of being alone) · pl samotność (state of being alone) · cmn 孤寂 (state of being alone) · cy unigedd (state of being alone) · lt vienatvė (state of being alone) · az yalqızlıq (state of being alone) · es soledad (state of being alone) · ga aonarachas (state of being alone) · rup singurãtati (state of being alone) · rup singurami (state of being alone) · lv vienatne (state of being alone)