English
solace
Solace comes from Old French solas ‘joy’, from Latin sōlācium ‘consolation’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- ‘mercy, comfort’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₂-‘mercy, comfort’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōlācium‘consolation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400solas‘joy’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595solace
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*selh₂-‘mercy, comfort’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōlācium‘consolation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400solas‘joy’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595solace
Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “But one thing to reioyce and ſolace in, And…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- ‘mercy, comfort’
Today it means
noun Comfort or consolation in a time of loneliness or distress.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- / solace