Solitary ant(Zoöl.), any solitary hymenopterous insect of the family Mutillidæ. The female of these insects is destitute of wings and has a powerful sting. The male is winged and resembles a wasp. Called also spider ant.Solitary bee(Zoöl.), any species of bee which does not form communities.Solitary sandpiper(Zoöl.), an American tattler Solitary snipe(Zoöl.), the great snipe. [Prov. Eng.] — Solitary thrush(Zoöl.) the starling. [Prov. Eng.]

Solitary
(Sol"i*ta*ry) n. One who lives alone, or in solitude; an anchoret; a hermit; a recluse.

Solitude
(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 state of being alone, or withdrawn from society; a lonely life; loneliness.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. Loneliness; soitariness; loneness; retiredness; recluseness. — Solitude, Retirement, Seclusion, Loneliness. 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.

Solivagant
(So*liv"a*gant) a. [L. solus alone + vagans wandering.] Wandering alone. [R.] T. Grander.

3. Not much visited or frequented; remote from society; retired; lonely; as, a solitary residence or place.

4. Not inhabited or occupied; without signs of inhabitants or occupation; desolate; deserted; silent; still; hence, gloomy; dismal; as, the solitary desert.

How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people.
Lam. i. 1.

Let that night be solitary; let no joyful voice come therein.
Job iii. 7.

5. Single; individual; sole; as, a solitary instance of vengeance; a solitary example.

6. (Bot.) Not associated with others of the same kind.


  By PanEris using Melati.

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