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solitudemore about solitude

solitude

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Solitude  \Sol"i*tude\,  n.  [F.,  from  L.  solitudo,  solus  alone. 
  See  {Sole},  a.] 
  1.  state  of  being  alone,  or  withdrawn  from  society;  a  lonely 
  life;  loneliness. 
 
  Whosoever  is  delighted  with  solitude  is  either  a 
  wild  beast  or  a  god.  --Bacon. 
 
  O  Solitude!  where  are  the  charms  That  sages  have 
  seen  in  thy  face?  --Cowper. 
 
  2.  Remoteness  from  society;  destitution  of  company; 
  seclusion;  --  said  of  places;  as  the  solitude  of  a  wood. 
 
  The  solitude  of  his  little  parish  is  become  matter 
  of  great  comfort  to  him  --Law. 
 
  3.  solitary  or  lonely  place  a  desert  or  wilderness. 
 
  In  these  deep  solitudes  and  awful  cells  Where 
  heavenly  pensive  contemplation  dwells.  --Pope. 
 
  Syn:  Syn.  Loneliness;  soitariness;  loneness;  retiredness; 
  recluseness.  --  {Solitude},  {Retirement},  {Seclusion}, 
  {Loneliness}. 
 
  Usage:  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. 
 
  O  blest  retirement,  friend  to  life's  decline 
  --Goldsmith. 
 
  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. 
 
  It  is  a  place  of  seclusion  from  the  external 
  world.  --Bp.  Horsley. 
 
  These  evils  .  .  .  seem  likely  to  reduce  it  [a 
  city]  ere  long  to  the  loneliness  and  the 
  insignificance  of  a  village.  --Eustace. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  solitude 
  n  1:  a  state  of  social  isolation  [syn:  {purdah}] 
  2:  a  solitary  place 
  3:  a  disposition  toward  being  alone  [syn:  {aloneness},  {loneliness}, 
  {lonesomeness}]




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