solitude

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“
Ere she had risen from her supplications, her solitude was again invaded by Torquemada, the Dominican.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. noun The state or quality of being alone or remote from others.
  2. noun A lonely or secluded place.
  3. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: solitude, isolation, seclusion, retirement
    These nouns denote the state of being alone. Solitude implies the absence of all others: "The worst solitude is to be destitute of sincere friendship” (Francis Bacon). "I love tranquil solitude” (Percy Bysshe Shelley).
    Isolation emphasizes total separation or detachment from others: "the isolation of Crusoe, depicted by Defoe's genius” (Winston Churchill).
    Seclusion suggests removal, though not necessarily complete inaccessibility; the term often connotes a withdrawal from social contact: enjoyed my walk in the seclusion of the woods.
    Retirement suggests a withdrawal or retreat from active life, as for serenity or privacy: "an elegant sufficiency, content,/Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books” (James Thomson).

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Thus it came about that I was shut up in Vaucouleurs with my good comrade and friend Bertrand, in the Castle of which Robert de Baudricourt was governor, and for awhile little news reached us from the outside world, though such news as did penetrate to our solitude was all of disaster for the arms of France. —  A Heroine of France
  • A few dozen travelers went about their business in near-solitude, and presumably a team of state or Federal agents were lurking nearby, using sensors to scan for those who weren't what they seemed to be. —  F ;SF; - vol 097 issue 01 - July 1999
  • When he was working, he could usually convince himself that the solitude was a good thing, but not on nights like this He slipped on his shoes and opened the bedroom door. —  AnalogSFF,Jan/Feb2004
  • This solitude was at least half a league from any road, and surrounded by a thick forest, or rather by a brake, so tangled that, to get through it, the traveller must force his way among thistles and briers, by a path which seemed impracticable to any but wild beasts. —  The Life of St. Frances of Rome, and Others
  • The place was nice and warm, and he felt that his solitude was at an end. —  Short Sketches from Oldest America
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

loneliness ·  stillness ·  desolation ·  seclusion ·  gloom ·  repose ·  isolation ·  sadness ·  poverty ·  peace ·  monotony ·  grandeur
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sōlitūdō, from sōlus, alone; see s(w)e- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Middle English solitude, from Old French (and F.) solitude = Italian solitudine, from Latin solitudo, loneliness, from solus, alone: see sole.
 

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/ˈsɑltjud/
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