SOLITARY

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, solitarie, from Anglo-French, from Latin solitarius, from solitas aloneness, from solus alone Date: 14th century 1. being, living, or going alone or without companions, saddened by isolation, unfrequented , desolate , 3. taken, passed, or performed without companions , keeping a prisoner apart from others , being at once single and isolated , 5. occurring singly and not as part of a group or cluster , not gregarious, colonial, social, or compound , see: alone solitarily adverb solitariness noun II. noun (plural -taries) Date: 15th century one who lives or seeks to live a ~ life ; recluse , ~ confinement in prison