▪ I. solemn, a. (adv. and n.)
(ˈsɒləm)
Forms: 4–6 solempne (4 soll-), 6 sol(l)empe; 4–7 solemne, 7 sollemn(e, 6– solemn; 5 solom, 6 sollem, soleme, sol-, sollom(e, 6–7 solem. See also solemny a. and solen a.
[a. OF. solempne, solemne (= Sp. and Pg. solemne) or ad. L. sōl-, sollemnis (later also sollempnis), established, appointed, customary, festive, etc.
The formation of the L. word is doubtful; the common variant sōl-, sollennis (formerly explained as from sōlus, sollus whole, and annus year) is now believed to be due to assimilation, or to association with other adjs. in -ennis.]
1. a. Associated or connected with religious rites or observances; performed with due ceremony and reverence; having a religious character; sacred.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter, Comm. Cant. 499 We sall synge oure psalmys, þat is, we sall make solempn þi louyngis. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 735 Ȝit may þer no man..Wiþ sole[m]pne sacrifice serue hem at onus. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 299 Seint Mammertus..ordeyned solempne letanyes þat beeþ i-cleped þe Rogaciouns. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 11 It was doon in ful solemne wyse And with many a cerymonye. 1528 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 319 The seruice daylie doon..so deuoute, solempne, and full of Armonye. 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 5 The solemnest divine honour which I see in those parts. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 808 Then came forth the sacrificers, who began the sacrifice of men..: for this was their solemnest festiuall. 1650 Fuller Pisgah i. vii. 17 It is answered, that seven was the compleat and solemne number, whereon God him⁓self emphatically insists. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 390 [They] with cursed things His holy Rites, and solemn Feasts profan'd. 1830 Coleridge Church & State (ed. 2) 226 During the solemner Sabbaths of the Spirit. 1847 Tennyson Princ. ii. 428 At last a solemn grace Concluded, and we sought the gardens. |
b. spec. Of various ecclesiastical ceremonies or services of a special character (see quots.).
| 1338 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 284 He giffes a solempne cursyng, Tille þo þat þer on liffes. c 1515 Cocke Lorell's B. 7 A solempne dyryge is songe there, With a grete drynkynge. 1546 Supplic. Poore Commons (E.E.T.S.) 69 To this daye, thei vse, on solempne feastes, to folow theyr olde ordinary. 1577 Harrison Descr. Brit. ii. i, It happened..in a Rogation weeke that the clergy goyng in solemne procession [etc.]. 1699 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. VII. 54 Father Rector of ye Colledge performed his Jubilee with a Solemn Mass. 1700 Ibid. 68 A Solemne Obsequie for Count Colonna of Bornhem. 1753 Challoner Cath. Chr. Instr. 93 In the high or solemn Mass the Gospel is sung by the Deacon. 1834 K. H. Digby Mores Cath. v. vii. 188 The festival of the circumcision became solemn in the sixth century. 1866 Lee Direct. Angl. (ed. 3) 360 Solemn Service, a choral celebration of the Holy Eucharist. 1908 Ch. Times 13 Mar. 347/2 Parishioners, friends, and relatives gathered from far and near for the Solemn Requiem. |
2. Of days or seasons: Marked by the celebration of special observances or rites (esp. of a religious character); distinguished by, or set apart for, special ceremonies.
| c 1325 Prose Psalter cxvii. 25 Stablis þe solempne daie. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1418 Þemperour erded stille in rome at þe ester tide, & for þat solempne sesoun [etc.]. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 29 He..forbeed hem mete and drynkenge of wyn but it were in certeyne solempne dayes in þe ȝere. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 50 Þat feyris nor markets had no place in þe kirk in solempne tymis. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 194 In hey festis & solempne dayys. 1533 Frith Mirror (1829) 295 The Jews..were commanded to keep the seventh day solemn. 1611 Bible Numb. x. 10 Also in the day of your gladnesse, and in your solemne dayes. 1650 Trapp Comm., Exod. xx. 17 Holie-daies were either quotidian or solemn. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 23 Apr. 1646, To this there joynes a spacious Hall for sollemn dayes to ballot in. |
3. a. Performed with, accompanied by, due formality or ceremony; of a formal or ceremonious character.
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 302 Eueryche [bird] songe in his wyse The most solempne seruyse. c 1386 ― Sqr.'s T. 61 This Cambinskan..halt his feste, so solempne and so riche That in this world ne was ther noon it liche. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 464/1 Solempne, or feestfulle, festivus, celeber. a 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 548 Now truly, to my thynkynge, This is a solempne drinkynge. 1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus Ff ij, To morrow next there is sollem hunting in the parke here adioyning. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 723 A solemne horse running, wherein the horse that outrunneth the rest hath for his prise a little golden bell. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Amb. A ij b, The Accompt of a Solemn Embassy, sent to two of the greatest Princes of Europe and Asia. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 15 Oct. 1685, Being the King's birth day, there was a solemne ball at Court. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. i. iii. iii, Till at length,..in solemn final session, there bursts forth..an explosion of eloquence. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. i. 30 They were invited to two solemn banquets. |
† b. Formal; regular; uniform. Obs.
| 1639 Fuller Holy War iv. ix. (1840) 194 Since which time we find no solemn taking it [the city] by the Turks. a 1661 ― Worthies (1840) II. 542 Castles..able to resist (though no solemn siege) a tumultuary incursion. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xvii. 47 Any matter may easily repass..in the solemn Circulation of the Blood. 1704 Dict. Rust. (1726) s.v. Hot-shoots, Whereupon they'll continue a glowing, solemn, and constant Fire, for 7 or 8 hours. |
† c. Customary; carefully observed. Obs.—1
| 1616 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Humour Ded. to Camden, So solemne a vice it is with them to vse the authoritie of their ignorance, to the crying downe of Poetry. |
† 4. a. Grand, imposing; sumptuous. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1171 He sete on Salamones solie, on solemne wyse. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 387 Arryved ben this cristen folk to londe, In Surrie, with a greet solempne route. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1630 Priam..a pales gert make Within the Cite full Solempne of a sete riall. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 142 b, Salomon buylded a solemne temple..of stones precyous & quadrat or squared. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cx. ii, In solempne robes they glad shall goe. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xv. (Arb.) 49 For which purpose also the players garments were made more rich and costly and solemne. |
† b. Of great dignity or importance. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 209 Ther was..A limitour, a ful solempne man. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 3 After solempne and wise writeres of arte. Ibid. 95 Babylonia..was first so solempne þat it conteyned Assyria, Caldea, and Mesopotamia. c 1430 Lydg. in Pol., Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 28, I fond a lyknesse depict vpon a wal.., The hede of thre fulle solempne and roiall, Intellectus, Memorye, and Resoun. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vi. (1811) 183 Ethilstanne..mette with hym, and his people, at a place called Brymforde, where he had a great and solempne victory. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 230 Thrie Judgement saites to be seperate ane frome another in solemne places. |
† c. Famous, renowned. Obs.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 421 His temple is solempne in þe ilond Diomedia. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 22 Edinburgh.., quhilke was nocht litle celebrate and solemne. |
5. Of a formal and serious or deliberate character: a. Of vows or oaths, spec. of those made under some religious sanction.
Solemn League and Covenant: see covenant n. 9 a.
| c 1315 Shoreham i. 1785 Of chastete professioun Hys [= is] solempne by-heste. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 239 With sacrafyse vp-set, & solempne vowes. a 1450 Myrc 1661 Hym þat brekeþ solempne vow, Or chawnge hyt wole, sende hym forþ now. c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xlvi. 177 Makyng a grete & a solempne oath. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Mowbrays Banishment xi, We all agreed and sware a solempne oth. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxv. §9 The solemnest vow that wee euer made. 1643 Prynne Sov. Power Parl. i. (ed. 2) 54 Such faith is to be given to the solemnest Oathes of Kings. 1756–9 A. Butler Lives of Saints, St. Frances, The Oblates make no solemn vows, only a promise of obedience to the mother-president. 1885 Month Nov. 436 The Redemptoristines were approved with solemn vows and are therefore a Religious Order properly so called. 1894 Ibid. June 239 According to the Statutes the vows of the choir nuns should be those canonically called ‘solemn’. |
b. Of statements, compacts, documents, etc.
Not always clearly distinct from sense 6.
| 1420 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 67 And aftirward with a solempne proposicion dennouncede vn to hym thys Pes. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. vi. 31 Alle the trouthis of lawe of kinde..weren writen bifore in thilk solempnest inward book. 1533 More Debell. Salem v. Wks. 940/1 But then commeth he forthe vppon me..with a very foly & with a solempne lye. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 257 There⁓fore we protest..in solemnwyse that we are of this mynd. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. 760 Thomas Musgrave..was by solemne writ of summons called to the Parliament. 1671 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 385 Our House hath..made a solemne vote, That aids given by the Commons ought not to be altered. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals i. Wks. 1766 III. 17 The solemn dissertations that have been made on these weighty subjects! 1741–2 Gray Agrip. i. i, Of mutter'd charms and solemn invocation. 1806 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life ii. xviii, The most solemn assurances of the Barometer that there is nothing to fear. 1847 Mrs. A. Kerr tr. Ranke's Hist. Servia 263 A solemn agreement had been entered into; and Russia was entitled to demand its due execution. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 550/2 But neither in England nor in Sicily did official formalism acknowledge even French..as a fit tongue for solemn documents. |
6. Of a serious, grave, or earnest character: a. Of actions, feelings, etc.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. ii. viii. 183 If bi the ymagis..schulde be maad eny quyk and feruent and solempne and miche deuout remembraunce. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 234 He toke of hys cappe, and made a low and solempne obeysance. 1590 Greene Never too Late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 77 With a solempne conge departing, he went about his busines. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 201 A figure like your Father..with sollemne march Goes slow and stately. 1659 Hammond On Ps. xlviii. 12. 246 Nothing deserving our solemnest meditations. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. II. 303 Therefore our Zeal, if sincere, will be solemn. 1763 J. Brown Poet. & Music xii. 214 Our parochial Music, in general, is solemn and devout. 1827 Scott Chron. Canongate i, I shall never forget the solemn tone of expression with which he summed up the incapacities of the paralytic. 1833 Tennyson Dream Fair Women lvii, I heard Him, for He spake, and grief became A solemn scorn of ills. 1868 Ffoulkes Church's Creed or Crown's Creed? 36 There is a solemn document before the world—I may say one of the solemnest. |
b. Of persons. Also transf.
| 1580–3 Greene Mamillia Wks. (Grosart) II. 239 Be not too sad least he thinke thou art sollempe. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. i. 318 Where the sad and solemne Priests sing still. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 648 Silent Night With this her solemn Bird. Ibid. xi. 236 Some great Potentate..solemn and sublime, whom not to offend, With reverence I must meet. 1781 Cowper Conversation 299 A shallow brain behind a serious mask,..The solemn fop. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xxviii, They were again a reverent flock, and he once more a solemn pastor. 1867 F. H. Ludlow Brace of Boys 265 So confused among the wax-works that he pinched the solemnest showman's legs to see if he was real. |
| absol. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus xxvii. 6 But dull water, avaunt..; seek the sour, the solemn! |
c. Of the features or looks.
| 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 90 Why do you bend such solemne browes on me? 1761 Gray Odin 76 What Virgins these..That bend to earth their solemn brow. 1832 Brewster Nat. Magic iii. 43 Though the eyes were open, the features were solemn and rigid. 1899 Marg. Benson & Gourlay Temple of Mut i. 11 An Arab girl with solemn eyes. |
7. a. Fitted to excite serious thoughts or reflections; impressive, awe-inspiring.
| c 1400 St. Alexius (Laud MS.) 867 Þe þrid tyme com þe voice Fro hym þat was don on croice wiþ gret solempne liȝth. c 1425 Abraham's Sacr. 437 in Bk. of Brome 68 Lo!..now haue we schowyd Thys solom story to grete and smale. 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 84/1 The wind that puffeth vs vp in pride, vpon the solemne sight of worldly worship. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 29 There raignd a solemne silence ouer all. 1642 H. More Song Soul i. iii. lxv, In solem silency this vapour rose From this drad Dale. 1719 Tickell On the Death of Addison 15 What awe did the slow solemn knell inspire. 1757 Gray Bard 105 What solemn scenes on Snowdon's height. 1821 Shelley Adonais xlv, His solemn agony had not Yet faded from him. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xviii. 123 The solemn heights of Monte Rosa. 1880 J. F. Clarke Self Culture iii. 75 It becomes vastly more solemn than death. |
† b. Gloomy, dark, sombre. Obs.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 78 Customary suites of solemne Blacke. 1616 B. Jonson Epigr. i. lxxiii, Your partie-per-pale picture, one halfe drawne In solemne cypres. 1625 Bacon Ess., Adversity (Arb.) 505 Wee see in Needleworkes and Imbroideries, It is more pleasing, to haue a Liuely Worke, vpon a Sad and Solemne Ground; then to haue a Darke and Melancholy Worke, vpon a Lightsome Ground. |
8. As adv. Solemnly. rare—1.
| 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Sec. Poem 20 Let the solemn Numbers rise; Solemn sing the Queen of Night. |
9. As n. Solemnity. rare—1.
| 1706 De Foe Jure Divino iv. 81 When subjects..Bind their dissembled homage to the Crown And bend the Solemns of Religion down. |
10. Comb. a. Misc., as solemn-breathing, solemn-looking, solemn-proud adjs., solemn-slowly adv.
| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1023 Somtyme I syt as I were solempe prowde. 1634 Milton Comus 555 A soft and solemn breathing sound. 1754 Gray Progr. Poesy 14 Parent of sweet and solemn-breathing airs. 1817 Lady Morgan France i. (1818) I. 53 A cold, solemn-looking English sergeant. 1871 G. Macdonald Wks. of Fancy & Imag. ii. 12 Let the bright sails all solemn-slowly pass. |
b. Parasynthetic, or with pa. pples., as solemn-browed, solemn-eyed, solemn-measured, solemn-shaded, solemn-thoughted, solemn-visaged.
| 1777 Potter æschylus (1779) I. 138 For this beneath the solemn-shaded grove Our raptur'd invocations rise. 1838 Ld. Houghton Poems of Many Years 11 Solemn-measured be your paces. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 151/1 In stiff-necked solemn-visaged piety. 1844 Mrs. Browning Lady Geraldine's Courtship xli, Wordsworth's solemn⁓thoughted idyl. 1852 Miss Mulock Head of Family vi, A long-limbed, solemn-browed follower of the sciences. 1889 W. B. Yeats Wanderings of Oisin 59 Away with us he's going, The solemn-eyed. 1930 M. Mead Growing up in New Guinea ix. 151 A tiny curly grass skirt is fashioned.., and the solemn-eyed baby arrayed in it for a feast day. |
▪ II. † ˈsolemn, v. Obs.
In 5–6 solemne, 6 solemp(n)e.
[f. prec., or ad. OF. solem(p)ner, -nier.]
trans. To solemnize, celebrate.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 348/2 To Solemne, solennizare, celebrare. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) I. 23 To morowe the seventh daye I will solempe [v.r. blyn]. 1527 Lanc. Wills (Chetham Soc.) i. 34, I will y{supt} Sir Iohn Walton occupye and solempne dyvine service at the forsaid Chapell. 1555 Eden Decades, etc. (Arb.) 302 They solemne marriages, and begynne the same with fyre and flynte. |