Advertisement

Origin and history of monologue

monologue(n.)

1660s, "long speech by one person, scene in a drama in which a person speaks by himself," from French monologue, from Late Greek monologos "speaking alone or to oneself," from Greek monos "single, alone" (from PIE root *men- (4) "small, isolated") + logos "speech, word," from legein "to speak," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives meaning "to speak (to 'pick out words')." Related: Monologist.

also from 1660s

Entries linking to monologue

soliloquy(n.)

c. 1600, soliloquie, from Late Latin soliloquium "a talking to oneself," from Latin solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)) + loqui "to speak" (from PIE root *tolkw- "to speak").

The word was in English in the Latin form in 1590s. Earlier it was used in translations of Latin "Liber Soliloquiorum" (bok soliloquies, mid-14c.), a treatise by Augustine, who is said to have coined the word on analogy of Greek monologia (see monologue). Latin soliloquium was glossed in Middle English as allon-speche (early 15c.). Related: Soliloquent; soliloqueity; soliloquacious.

travelogue(n.)

"a talk on travel experiences, typically illustrated," 1903, a hybrid word coined by U.S. traveler Burton Holmes (1870-1958) from travel + Greek-derived -logue, abstracted from monologue.

Advertisement

More to explore

language
late 13c., langage "words, what is said, conversation, talk," from Old French langage "speech, words, oratory; a tribe, people, nation" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *linguaticum, from Latin lingua "tongue," also "speech, language," from PIE root *dnghu- "tongue." The -u- is an Anglo
speech
Middle English speche, from Old English spæc "act of speaking; power of uttering articulate sounds; manner of speaking; statement, discourse, narrative, formal utterance; language." It is a variant of Old English spræc, which is from Proto-Germanic *sprek-, *spek- (source also of
Logos
1580s, "the divine Word, second person of the Christian Trinity," from Greek logos "word, speech, statement, discourse," also "a computation, account," also "reason, judgment, understanding," from PIE *log-o-, suffixed form of root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives
essay
1590s, "trial, attempt, endeavor," also "short, discursive literary composition" (first attested in writings of Francis Bacon, probably in imitation of Montaigne), from French essai "trial, attempt, essay" (in Old French from 12c.), from Late Latin exagium "a weighing, a weight,"
illusion
mid-14c., "mockery, scorning, derision;" late 14c., "act of deception; deceptive appearance, apparition; delusion of the mind," from Old French illusion "a mocking, deceit, deception" (12c.), from Latin illusionem (nominative illusio) "a mocking, jesting, jeering; irony," from pa
prerogative
"special right or privilege granted to someone; characteristic right inhering in one's nature, office, or position," late 14c., prerogatif, (in Anglo-Latin from late 13c.), from Old French prerogative (14c.) and directly from Medieval Latin prerogativa "special right," from Latin
parliament
c. 1300, parlement, "consultation; formal conference, assembly," from Old French parlement (11c.), originally "a speaking, talk," from parler "to speak" (see parley (n.)); the spelling was altered c. 1400 to conform with Medieval Latin parliamentum. Anglo-Latin parliamentum is at
ambiguous
"of doubtful or uncertain nature, open to various interpretations," 1520s, from Latin ambiguus "having double meaning, shifting, changeable, doubtful," an adjective derived from ambigere "to dispute about, contend, debate," literally "to wander, go about, go around," figuratively
liberty
late 14c., "free choice, freedom to do as one chooses," also "freedom from the bondage of sin," from Old French liberte "freedom, liberty, free will" (14c., Modern French liberté), from Latin libertatem (nominative libertas) "civil or political freedom, condition of a free man; a
slang
1756, "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves" or any set of persons of low character, later "jargon of a particular profession" (1801). The sense of "very informal language characterized by vividness and novelty" is by 1818. Anatoly Liberman writes here an extensive account of

Share monologue

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near monologue
Advertisement