In the Soliloquy lexicon
soliloquy
A speech in which a character, especially in a play, expresses their thoughts aloud while alone or unheard by others.
Used in a sentence
Hamlet’s soliloquy reveals his deepest doubts.
Where it comes from
From Latin soliloquium “speaking alone,” from solus “alone” and loqui “to speak.”
Its journey
Soliloquy was coined in late Latin as soliloquium, from solus, ‘alone’, and loqui, ‘to speak’: literally, ‘speaking alone’. Augustine used Soliloquia as the title of a fourth-century dialogue of the soul with itself, and English borrowed the learned Latin word in the late sixteenth century, where the theatre made it the private speech of a character.
A small story
After the final train, Miriam stood beneath the station clock and gave her soliloquy to the empty platforms: the apologies she had rehearsed, the questions she would never send. Rain threaded the rails with silver. When the loudspeaker crackled awake, she stopped, as though someone had been listening.
Nearby words
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