\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 state of being alone, or withdrawn from society; a lonely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.