▪ I. † solen, a. and n.1 Obs.
Also 5 solenne.
[a. OF. solenne (= It. solenne), ad. L. sōl-, sollennis, var. of sollemnis solemn a.]
A. adj. Solemn, in various senses.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden (Rolls) III. 297 A feste of gandres was made solenne and kepede at Rome in the kalendes of Iune. c 1460 Promp. Parv. (W.) 421 Solenne, or festful, festiuus. 1530 Palsgr. 325/1 Solen, nat cherefull, pencif. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 530 Syne grauit [he] wes in to his graif..with sacrifice solen Of Cristin wyis with mony nobill men. 1570 Levins Manip. 62 Solen, solennis. |
B. n. ? A formal residence.
| 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 29 In this seyd cherche was an abbeye, A solenne of munkys whil that it stood. |
▪ II. solen, n.2
(ˈsəʊlən)
[a. L. sōlēn, or Gr. σωλήν channel, pipe, syringe, shell-fish, etc. So F. solen.]
1. Zool. The razor-fish, Solen ensis or siliqua.
| 1661 R. Lovell Anim. & Min. 240 Solen... The flesh is sweet; they may be eaten fryed or boiled. 1752 Hill Hist. Anim. 170 The large, brown, common Solen, called the Razor-shell and Sheath-shell. 1776 Mendes de Costa Elem. Conchol. 233 Shells with valves, that..are always open and gaping in some part; as chamæ, pinnæ, solens, etc. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 268 In the Solens, properly so called, the shell is cylindrically elongated. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. 538 The Solen excavates for itself a very deep hole in the sand. |
| Comb. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 319 Solen-like Nymphidæ. |
2. Surg. (See quots.)
| 1693 tr. Blancard's Phys. Dict. (ed. 2), Solen, an oblong Instrument which Surgeons use, to contain a broken Member. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2244/1 Solen,..(a) a cradle for a broken limb; (b) a tent or tilt of splits or wands to hold the bed-clothes from contact with a broken or sore limb. |
Hence (from sense 1) soleˈnacean n. and a.; soleˈnaceous a.
| 1842 Brande Dict. Sci., etc. 1130/1 Solenaceans, Solenacea,..the name of a family of Dimiary Bivalve Mollusks, of which the razor shell (Solen) is the type. 1850 Ogilvie, Solenaceous, relating to the Solenaceans. |