solemn

solemn

English

WOTD – 10 March 2021

Etymology

From Middle English solempne, solemne (“performed with religious ceremony or reverence; devoted to religious observances, sacred; ceremonious, formal; of a vow: made under a religious sanction, binding; religious celebration, celebration of a feast day; famous, well-known; important; grand, imposing; awe-inspiring, impressive; grave, serious; dignified; enunciated or held formally”) [and other forms],[1] from Old French solempne, solemne (“serious, solemn”) [and other forms], or from its etymon Late Latin sōlempnis, sōlennis, from Latin sōlemnis, from sollemnis (“appointed, established, fixed; common, customary, ordinary, ritual, traditional, usual; ceremonial, religious, solemn; festive; annual, yearly”) [and other forms]. The further etymology is uncertain;[2] sollus (“entire, whole”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”)) + epulum (“banquet, feast”) (in the sense of a ritual; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- (“to eat”)) has been suggested.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒləm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑləm/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒləm
• Hyphenation: sol‧emn

Adjective

solemn (comparative solemner or more solemn, superlative solemnest or most solemn)

1. (religion, specifically Christianity) Of or pertaining to religious ceremonies and rites; (generally) religious in nature; sacred.
2. (by extension)
   1. Characterized by or performed with appropriate or great ceremony or formality.
   2. Deeply serious and sombre; grave.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:serious

      Antonyms: lighthearted, unserious

   3. Inspiring serious feelings or thoughts; sombrely impressive.

      Synonym: awe-inspiring

   4. (obsolete) Cheerless, gloomy, sombre.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:cheerless

      Antonyms: cheerful; see also Thesaurus:blissful

Derived terms

• solemncholy
• solemnify
• solemniously (rare)
• solemnly
• solemnness
• solemnsides (adjective, noun)

 

Related terms

• solemnisation, solemnization
• solemniser, solemnizer
• solemnise, solemnize
• solemnising, solemnizing (adjective, noun)
• solemnity

 

Translations

of or pertaining to religious ceremonies and rites

Bulgarian: церемониален (bg) (ceremonialen) Georgian: საზეიმო (sazeimo) Italian: solenne (it) Scottish Gaelic: sòlaimte Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: свѐчан Roman: svečan (sh)

religious in nature — See also translations at sacred

Danish: højtidelig Finnish: pyhä (fi) Russian: свято́й (ru) (svjatój), свяще́нный (ru) (svjaščénnyj) Scottish Gaelic: sòlaimte

characterized by or performed with appropriate or great ceremony or formality

Armenian: հանդիսական (hy) (handisakan) Bulgarian: официален (bg) (oficialen), церемониален (bg) (ceremonialen) Catalan: solemne (ca) Dutch: plechtig (nl) Finnish: juhlallinen (fi), juhlava (fi) French: solennel (fr) German: feierlich (de) Latin: solemnis Occitan: solemne (oc) Polish: uroczysty (pl) Portuguese: solene (pt) Romanian: solemn (ro) Russian: торже́ственный (ru) (toržéstvennyj) Scottish Gaelic: sòlaimte Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: свѐчан Roman: svečan (sh) Spanish: solemne (es) Swedish: högtidlig (sv) Ukrainian: урочи́стий (uročýstyj)

deeply serious and sombre

Bulgarian: сериозен (bg) (seriozen), тържествен (bg) (tǎržestven) Catalan: solemne (ca) Dutch: ernstig (nl) Esperanto: solena (eo) Finnish: vakava (fi) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: ernst (de) Italian: solenne (it) Korean: 숙연하다 (sugyeonhada) Latin: solemnis Portuguese: solene (pt) Romanian: serios (ro) Russian: серьёзный (ru) (serʹjóznyj) Scottish Gaelic: sòlaimte, stòlda Spanish: solemne (es)

inspiring serious feelings or thoughts; sombrely impressive

Bulgarian: впечатляващ (bg) (vpečatljavašt) Finnish: vaikuttava (fi) Portuguese: solene (pt) Romanian: solemn (ro) Scottish Gaelic: sòlaimte

cheerless, gloomy, sombre — See also translations at cheerless,‎ gloomy,‎ sombre

Finnish: ankea (fi), synkkä (fi) Russian: мра́чный (ru) (mráčnyj)

References

1. “solempne, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
2. “solemn, adj. (adv. and n.)”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 1913; “solemn, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

• solemnity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• solemn (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Lemnos, Melson, Selmon, Smolen, lemons, losmen, melons, nmoles

---

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin sollemnis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /soˈlemn/

Adjective

solemn m or n (feminine singular solemnă, masculine plural solemni, feminine and neuter plural solemne)

1. solemn, grave, serious
2. impressive, exalted
3. festive, celebratory

Declension

Declension of solemn

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	solemn		solemnă	solemni	solemne
	definite	solemnul		solemna	solemnii	solemnele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	solemn		solemne	solemni	solemne
	definite	solemnului		solemnei	solemnilor	solemnelor

Synonyms

• (grave): grav, serios
• (festive): festiv, sărbătoresc

Related terms

• solemnitate