solitude

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The state or quality of being alone or remote from others.
2. n. A lonely or secluded place.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The state of being alone; a lonely life; loneliness.
2. n. Remoteness from society; lack or utter want of companionship: applied to place: as, the solitude of a wood or a valley.
3. n. A lonely, secluded, or unfrequented place; a desert.
4. n. Synonyms Solitude, Retirement, Seclusion, Loneliness, Lonesomeness. Solitude is the condition of being absolutely alone, whether or not one has been with others, or desires to escape from them: as, the solitude of the Sphinx. Retirement is comparative solitude, produced by retiring, voluntarily or otherwise, from contact which one has had with others. Seclusion is stronger than retirement, implying the shutting out of others from access: after the Restoration Milton for safety's sake kept himself in retirement; indeed, except to a few trusted friends, he was in complete seclusion. Loneliness expresses the uncomfortable feelings, the longing for society, of one who is alone. Lonesomeness may be a lighter kind of loneliness, especially a feeling less spiritual than physical, growing out of the animal instinct for society and the desire of protection, the consciousness of being alone: as, the lonesomeness of a walk through a cemetery at night. Lonesomeness, more often than loneliness, may express the impression made upon the observer.

Wiktionary

1. n. Aloneness; state of being alone or solitary, by oneself.
2. n. A lonely or deserted place.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. state of being alone, or withdrawn from society; a lonely life; loneliness.
2. n. Remoteness from society; destitution of company; seclusion; -- said of places.
3. n. solitary or lonely place; a desert or wilderness.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a state of social isolation
2. n. a solitary place
3. n. the state or situation of being alone