solitary
English
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈsɑlɪtɛɹi/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 95: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈsɒlɪtɹi/
Audio (US): (file)
Etymology 1
From Middle English [Term?], borrowed from Latin sōlitārius.
Noun
solitary (countable and uncountable, plural solitaries)
- (countable) One who lives alone, or in solitude; an anchoret, hermit or recluse.
- (uncountable) Solitary confinement.
- The prisoners who started the riot were moved to solitary.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:recluse
Translations
one who lives alone
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solitary confinement — see solitary confinement
Adjective
solitary (not comparable)
- Living or being by oneself; alone; having no companion present
- 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
- The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.
- Performed, passed, or endured alone
- a solitary journey
- a solitary life
- Not much visited or frequented; remote from society
- a solitary residence or place
- Not inhabited or occupied; without signs of inhabitants or occupation; desolate; deserted
- the solitary desert
- 1769, Bible (King James Version), Lamentations 1.1
- How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people!
- 1931, Francis Beeding, “1/1”, in Death Walks in Eastrepps:
- Eldridge closed the despatch-case with a snap and, rising briskly, walked down the corridor to his solitary table in the dining-car.
- gloomy; dismal, because of not being inhabited.
- Single; individual; sole.
- a solitary example
- 2018 December 1, Tom Rostance, “Southampton 2 - 2 Manchester United”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- That makes it almost half a season with just a solitary win, and Mark Hughes' side will reflect on a costly capitulation at the end of the first half after fine goals from Stuart Armstrong and Cedric Soares had seemingly put them in control.
- (botany) Not associated with others of the same kind.
Derived terms
Translations
living alone or being by oneself
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performed, passed, or endured alone
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not much visited or frequented; remote from society
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not inhabited or occupied
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single; individual; sole
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Etymology 2
Noun
solitary
- (archaic) The Rodrigues solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria), an extinct flightless bird.
Anagrams
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