solus

See also: Solus

English

Etymology

From Latin sōlus.

Adjective

solus (not comparable)

1. alone, unaccompanied (as a stage direction)

   Enter Hector solus.

Anagrams

• souls

Latin

Etymology

PIE word
*swé

• Often derived from earlier *swolos, from Proto-Italic *swelos, from Proto-Indo-European *swé (reflexive pronoun) (whence se (“oneself”)) + *-los, hence meaning "by oneself";
• De Vaan refers it to *solh₂- (“whole, healthy”), which would make it akin to sollus and salvus.
• Others connect it with Proto-Germanic *sēliz (Gothic 𐍃𐌴𐌻𐍃 (sēls, “happy, good”), Old English sēlra (“better”)), from Proto-Indo-European *selh₂- (whence sōlor (“to console”)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsoː.ɫʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɔː.lus]

Adjective

sōlus (feminine sōla, neuter sōlum); first/second-declension adjective (pronominal)

1. alone, sole, only, by oneself with no others around

   Sentīs mea vulnera, sentīs; atque utinam sōlī sint ea nōta tibi.

   You feel my wounds, you feel: and I hope they are only known to you.

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.22-23:

     “[...] sōlus hic īnflexit sēnsūs, animumque labantem / impulit [...].”

     “[...] this [is the] only [man who] swayed [my] feelings, and stirred [my] wavering heart [...].”

2. solitary, uninhabited

Declension

First/second-declension adjective (pronominal).

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	sōlus	sōla	sōlum		sōlī	sōlae	sōla
genitive	sōlī̆us				sōlōrum	sōlārum	sōlōrum
dative	sōlī				sōlīs
accusative	sōlum	sōlam	sōlum		sōlōs	sōlās	sōla
ablative	sōlō	sōlā	sōlō		sōlīs
vocative	sōle	sōla	sōlum		sōlī	sōlae	sōla

Derived terms

• dēsōlō
• Sōlifidiānus
• sōligenitus
• sōlitārius
• sōlitās
• sōlitātim
• sōlitūdo
• sōlum

Descendants

• Asturian: solu
• Catalan: sol, sols
• Old French: sol, seul, soul, sul
  • French: seul
  • → English: sole
• Friulian: sôl
• Istriot: sulo
• Italian: solo
  • → English: solo
  • → French: solo
  • → Portuguese: solo
• Occitan: sol
• Old Galician-Portuguese: soo, sol
  • Galician: só
  • Portuguese: só
• Romansch: sul
• Sardinian: solus (medieval), solu, sou
• Sicilian: sulu
• Spanish: solo

References

• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “sōlus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 573
• “solus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “solus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "solus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “solus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) sunrise; sunset: ortus, occasus solis
    
  • (ambiguous) an eclipse of the sun: solis defectio
    
  • (ambiguous) to be dried up by the sun's heat: ardore solis torreri
    
  • (ambiguous) the east winds are blowing: venti ab ortu solis flant
    
  • (ambiguous) to be situate to the north-west: spectare inter occasum solis et septentriones
    
  • (ambiguous) Solon, one of the seven sages: Solo, unus de septem (illis)
    
  • (ambiguous) Solo ordained by law that..: Solo lege sanxit, ut or ne
    
  • (ambiguous) to leave one's country (only used of exiles): solum vertere, mutare (Caecin. 34. 100)
    
  • (ambiguous) Solon made it a capital offence to..: Solo capite sanxit, si quis... (Att. 10. 1)
    
  • (ambiguous) to raze a town to the ground: oppidum solo aequare
    
  • (ambiguous) this is as clear as daylight: hoc est luce (sole ipso) clarius
    
• “solus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “solus”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly

Middle Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish solus.

Adjective

solus

1. bright
2. clear (of sound)
3. (intellectually) clear, lucid

Noun

solus m

1. light
2. clarity, intelligibility

Derived terms

• solusta

Descendants

• Irish: solas
• Manx: sollys
• Scottish Gaelic: solas

Mutation

Mutation of solus

radical	lenition	nasalization
solus	ṡolus	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Middle Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “solus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Irish

Etymology

so- +‎ lés (compare Middle Irish dolus)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsolus/

Adjective

solus (equative soilsidir)

1. bright, clear

Inflection

u-stem

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	solus	solus	solus
vocative	solus
accusative	solus	soluis
genitive	soluis	soilse	soluis
dative	solus	soluis	solus
plural	masculine	feminine/neuter
nominative	soilsi	soilsi
vocative	soilsi
accusative	soilsi
genitive	*
dative	soilsib

*not attested in Old Irish; same as nominative singular masculine in Middle Irish

Derived terms

• follus
• soilse

Descendants

• Middle Irish: solus
  • Irish: solas
  • Manx: sollys
  • Scottish Gaelic: solas

Mutation

Mutation of solus

radical	lenition	nasalization
solus	ṡolus	solus

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “solus”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Sardinian

Etymology

From Latin solus (“alone (adj.)”).

Adverb

solus

1. (obsolete, archaic) alone, by oneself

References

Hall, Robert Anderson. 1984. Proto-Romance morphology: Comparative Romance grammar. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Page 31.