- solitude (n.)
- late 14c., from Old French solitude "loneliness," from Latin solitudinem (nominative solitudo) "loneliness," from solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)). "Not in common use in English until the 17th c." [OED]
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; ... if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free. [Schopenhauer, "The World as Will and Idea," 1818]