Word of the Day: Solitude
solitude
sol-i-tude / sŏl-ĭ-to͞od, sŏl-ĭ-tyo͞od
noun
1. the state of being alone
Solitude is enjoyed only when one is at peace with oneself.
Chinese Proverb
2. a secluded place or a place which is removed from civilization
To sit in solitude, to think in solitude with only the music of the stream and the cedar to break the flow of silence, there lies the value of wilderness.
John Muir, 1838 – 1914
3. the state of being remote or uninhabited
When you meditate, go into the solitude of a forest, or a quiet corner, and enter into the chamber of your heart.
Ramakrishna, 1836 – 1886
etymology
Through Old French and Middle English from the Latin feminine noun solitudo, solitudinis (state of being alone, solitariness, loneliness, a lonely place, wilderness, desert) derived from a combination of the Latin adjective solus, sola, solum (sole, only, alone) and the abstract-noun-forming suffix -tudo,-tudinis indicating a quality, state, or condition.
Thank you to Allen Ward for providing this etymology.
