"S" Word Origins

solely

Middle English

From Middle English soly, built from sole ("only, single") plus -ly.

solemn

Latin

From Old French solempne, from Latin sollemnis ("customary, ceremonial, sacred"), from sollus ("whole, entire").

solemnise

Origin

From solemn + -ise.

solemnity

Origin

From solemn + -ity, from Middle English solemnity (“observance of formality and ceremony”), frequently in the phrases in solemnity, with solemnity, which from Old French solemnite, from Latin sollemnitās, from sollemnis. (Compare solemn.)

solemnization

Origin

From solemn + -ization.

solemnize

Origin

From Middle English solempnisen, from Old French solemnisier, from Medieval Latin solemnizare, from Latin solemnis.

solemnly

Origin

Built from solemn plus -ly.

solfatara

Origin

From Italian solfatara (“a place where to find sulphates”), from solfato (“sulphate”) + -ara (“suffix that forms place nouns”). More at Italian zolfo (“sulphur”). Itself the name of Solfatara, a volcano near Naples. Compare Sicilian surfatara.

solicit

Latin

From Old French soliciter, from Latin sollicitāre ("to stir up, disturb, urge"), from sollicitus ("agitated, anxious").

solicitation

Latin

From Latin sollicitātiō, related to solicit.

solicitor

Middle French

From Middle French soliciteur, from solicit plus the agent-suffix -or.

solicitous

Origin

From Latin sōlicitus, sollicitus (“thoroughly disturbed, anxious”), from sollus (“whole, entire”) + cieō (“move, disturb”). By surface analysis, solicit + -ous.

solicitude

Origin

From Middle English solicitude, from Old French sollicitude, from Latin sollicitūdō (“anxiety”), from sollicitus, solicitus (“anxious, solicitous”). See solicitous.

solid

Latin

From Old French solide, from Latin solidus ("solid, whole").

solidarity

Latin

From French solidarité, from solidaire ("mutually responsible"), ultimately from Latin solidum ("a whole").

solidification

Origin

From French solidification, or from solid + -ification.

solidify

French

From French solidifier, built from solid plus -ify.

solidity

Origin

From solid + -ity, from Middle French solidité, from Latin soliditās.

solidly

Origin

Built from solid plus -ly.

solidus

Origin

From Middle English solidus, from classical Latin solidus (“solid”), see below. Doublet of sol, sold, soldo, solid, sou, and xu. In numismatic and weight senses, via medieval Latin solidus (“various coins”), from Late Latin solidus (“a gold coin of the Roman Empire”). In chemical sense, via German Solidus, coined by H.W.B. Roozeboom in his 1899 Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie, Stöchiometrie, und Verwandtschaftslehre (XXX, page 387). In typography, from the shilling mark originally being an abbreviation (a long s ⟨ſ⟩), of Medieval Latin solidus meaning shilling.

soliloquy

Latin

From Late Latin 'soliloquium', from 'solus' meaning 'alone' and 'loqui' meaning 'to speak'.

soliman

Origin

Anglicization and Filipino form of Spanish Solimán, from Arabic سُلَيْمَان (sulaymān). Also an Arabic patronymic surname.

solipsism

Origin

From Latin sōlus (“alone”) + ipse (“self”) + -ism.

Solis

Latin

From the Latin word for "sun," sol, in its genitive form solis.

solitaire

Latin

Borrowed from French solitaire ("solitary"), from Latin sōlitārius — a doublet of the English word solitary.

solitary

Latin

From Latin sōlitārius, "alone" — the same root that gives us "solitaire".

solitude

Latin

From Latin sōlitūdō, "loneliness", built from sōlus, "alone".

solitudinarian

Origin

From Latin sōlitūdin- + -arian, from oblique stem of Latin sōlitūdō, from sōlus + -tūdō. By surface analysis, solitude + -arian.

Solloway

Origin

From Ukrainian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”).

solo

Latin

Borrowed from Italian solo, "alone", from Latin sōlus.

soloist

Origin

Formed from solo + the agent suffix -ist.

Solomon

Latin

From the Hebrew name Shelomo, related to shalom ("peace"), passed into English through Greek and Latin.

solon

Origin

From Solon, the name of an influential ancient Athenian statesman and lawgiver, one of the Seven Sages of Greece.

solovay

Origin

From Ukrainian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”) or Russian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”).

solovei

Origin

From Ukrainian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”) or Russian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”).

solovey

Origin

From Ukrainian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”) or Russian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”).

solovyev

Origin

Borrowed from Russian Соловьёв (Solovʹjóv).

Solovyov

Russian

From Russian solovey, meaning "nightingale."

soloway

Origin

From Ukrainian соловей (solovej, “nightingale”).

solrise

Origin

From sunrise, replacing sun with Sol.

solstice

Latin

From Latin sōlstitium, from sōl ("sun") + sistere ("to stand still") — the point where the sun's path seems to pause.

solubility

Latin

From Latin 'solubilis', from 'solvere' meaning 'to loosen, dissolve'.

solution

Latin

From Latin solūtiō, "a loosening or dissolving", from the verb solvō, "to loosen, solve".

solve

Latin

From Latin solvō, "to loosen, unbind" — the sense shifted to "work out an answer".

solvent

Latin

From Latin solvēns, "dissolving, loosening", present participle of solvō.

solver

Origin

Formed from solve + the agent suffix -er.

som

Origin

From the Kyrgyz and Uzbek word som/soʻm, from a Turkic root meaning "pure gold".

soma

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek sôma, "body".