English
soliloquy
Soliloquy comes from Late Latin sōliloquium, from Latin loquor ‘to say, speak, tell, talk, utter’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*telkʷ-‘to talk’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*tlokʷetorreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tlokʷōr‘to speak’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEloquor‘to say, speak, tell, talk, utter’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsōliloquium
- Englishearliest quotation 1835soliloquy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*telkʷ-‘to talk’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*tlokʷetorreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tlokʷōr‘to speak’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEloquor‘to say, speak, tell, talk, utter’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsōliloquium
- Englishearliest quotation 1835soliloquy
Earliest quotation: 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan: “The feeling of Singleton's bosom grew heightened in its…”
The story
Augustine's Soliloquiorum libri duo ("Two Books of Soliloquies"), from sōlus (‘only, sole’) + loquor (‘to speak’).
Linked words
through Latin loquor ‘to say, speak, tell, talk, utter’
eloquent, eloquence, colloquial, interlocutor, colloquium, loquacious, 18 more
Today it means
noun The act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *telkʷ- / soliloquy