solitary

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   confinement of a prisoner in isolation from other prisoners

   I was held in solitary for six months.

2. 2
   noun

   One who lives alone, or in solitude; an anchorite, hermit or recluse.

   He brooded and intrigued fantastically. He was becoming one of the big-time solitaries. And he wasn't meant to be a solitary. He was meant to be in active life, a social creature.

3. 3
   noun

   Ellipsis of solitary confinement.

   The prisoners who started the riot were moved to solitary.

4. 4
   noun

   The state of being solitary; solitude

   You must wonder why I'm relentless and all strung out/I'm consumed by the chill of solitary

5. 5
   adj

   Living or being by oneself; alone; having no companion present

   The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.

6. 6
   adj

   Performed, passed, or endured alone.

   a solitary journey

7. 7
   adj

   Not much visited or frequented; remote from society

   a solitary residence or place

8. 8
   adj

   Not inhabited or occupied; without signs of inhabitants or occupation; desolate; deserted

   the solitary desert

Etymology

From Middle English solitarie, borrowed from Latin sōlitārius. Doublet of solitaire.