English
solitaire
Solitaire comes from French solitaire ‘solitary, alone’, and goes back to Latin solus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolus‘alone’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolitas‘solitude, loneliness’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōlitārius‘solitary’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsolitaire‘solitary, alone’
- Englishearliest quotation 1771same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolus‘alone’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsolitas‘solitude, loneliness’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsōlitārius‘solitary’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsolitaire‘solitary, alone’
- Englishearliest quotation 1771same form
Earliest quotation: 1771, Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker […]: “The fellow wears a ſolitaire, uſes paint, and takes…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *swé ‘self’
such, self, suicide, idiot, sans, idiocy, swain, sere, 21 more
through Latin solus ‘alone’
Today it means
noun A person who lives alone; a recluse or hermit.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin solus / solitaire