soliloquy
verbEtymology 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
Rare To issue a soliloquy.
- Synonyms
- soliloquize
soliloquy
noun/səˈlɪləkwi/
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
Broadcasting, Drama, Dramaturgy, Entertainment, Film, Lifestyle, Media, Television, Theater 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.1901, Edmund Selous, Bird Watching, J.M. Dent & Co, London, Chapter XII: Watching Blackbirds, Nightingales, Sand-martins, etc., page 315:
2
Authorship, Broadcasting, Communications, Film, Journalism, Literature, Media, Publishing, Television, Writing 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 […]1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter XI, page 135:
- Here is a very over-simplified example, this time expressed in the form of a subjective soliloquy rather than a computer simulation.1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, Kindle edition, OUP Oxford, published 2016, page 126:
- Derived terms
- soliloqual, soliloquise, soliloquist, soliloquize
- Related terms
- solo, solitude, locution, apostrophe, stage whisper