n. [ F., from L. solitudo, solus alone. See Sole, a. ] 1. state of being alone, or withdrawn from society; a lonely life; loneliness. [ 1913 Webster ] Whosoever is delighted with solitude is either a wild beast or a god. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ] O Solitude! where are the charms
That sages have seen in thy face? Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Remoteness from society; destitution of company; seclusion; -- said of places; as, the solitude of a wood. [ 1913 Webster ] The solitude of his little parish is become matter of great comfort to him. Law. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. solitary or lonely place; a desert or wilderness. [ 1913 Webster ] In these deep solitudes and awful cells
Where heavenly pensive contemplation dwells. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ] Syn. Loneliness; soitariness; loneness; retiredness; recluseness. -- Solitude, Retirement, Seclusion, Loneliness. Retirement is a withdrawal from general society, implying that a person has been engaged in its scenes. Solitude describes the fact that a person is alone; seclusion, that he is shut out from others, usually by his own choice; loneliness, that he feels the pain and oppression of being alone. Hence, retirement is opposed to a gay, active, or public life; solitude, to society; seclusion, to freedom of access on the part of others; and loneliness, enjoyment of that society which the heart demands. [ 1913 Webster ] O blest retirement, friend to life's decline. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ] Such only can enjoy the country who are capable of thinking when they are there; then they are prepared for solitude; and in that [ the country ] solitude is prepared for them. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] It is a place of seclusion from the external world. Bp. Horsley. [ 1913 Webster ] These evils . . . seem likely to reduce it [ a city ] ere long to the loneliness and the insignificance of a village. Eustace. [ 1913 Webster ] | 