soleyn

Middle English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman soleyn, solayn (continental Old French solain);[1] compare sole (“sole, single”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /suˈlæi̯n/, (reduced) /ˈsulɛn/, /ˈsulin/

Adjective

soleyn (chiefly Late Middle English)

  1. alone, solitary (of one person; in solitude)
    • 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowles, lines 606–607:
      I recche not how longe that ye stryve; / Lat ech of hem be soleyn al hir lyve,
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 1390, John Gower, Confessio Amantis‎[1], lines 133–136:
      That ofte, whanne I scholde pleie, / It makth me drawe out of the weie / In soulein place be miselve, / As doth a labourer to delve,
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • c. 1405, Couldrette, The Romans of Partenay‎[2], lines 5431–5432:
      Where ye shall finde this solain auenture, / Full strang vnto sight of ech creature
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. exceptional, singular, unusual
  3. sullen, brooding, morose
  4. (rare) restrained, respectable
  5. (rare) lonely, desolate

Descendants

  • English: sullen

Noun

soleyn (plural *soleyns) (rare, chiefly Late Middle English)

  1. A single or singular person
  2. A meal that serves a single person.
  3. The sullen; sullen people.

Descendants

References

  1. ^ “solein(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

sole +‎ -eyn (Anglo-Norman variant of -ain).

Adjective

soleyn m (oblique and nominative feminine singular soleyne)

  1. (Anglo-Norman) solitary; alone
  2. (Anglo-Norman) sole; only

Descendants

References

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