Skip to content
Vinony

soliloquy

noun

  1. dramatic device where a character speaks to his- or herself
  2. the act of talking to oneself
L328109 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /səˈlɪləkwi/

noun

Etymology: 1595–1605; From Late Latin sōliloquium in the title of St. Augustine's Soliloquiorum libri duo ("Two Books of Soliloquies"), from sōlus (“only, sole”) + loquor (“to speak”).

  1. The act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience.

    “At the end of the second act the main villain gave a soliloquy detailing his plans to attack the protagonist.”

    “Yet if I were to say […] that Hamlet's soliloquy had been much over-rated, it would not be said, on this account, that I was unable to appreciate Shakespeare.”

  2. A speech or written discourse in this form.

    “The feeling of Singleton's bosom grew heightened in its tone of melancholy, and a more passionate emphasis of thought broke forth in his half-muttered soliloquy:— ¶"How I remember as I look […]”

    “Here is a very over-simplified example, this time expressed in the form of a subjective soliloquy rather than a computer simulation.”

verb

Etymology: 1595–1605; From Late Latin sōliloquium in the title of St. Augustine's Soliloquiorum libri duo ("Two Books of Soliloquies"), from sōlus (“only, sole”) + loquor (“to speak”).

  1. To issue a soliloquy.