Solace

How to spell solace

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce solace

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does solace mean?

1. nounComfort or relief felt in a time of sadness, disappointment, or hardship.
2. verbTo give comfort to someone in distress; to soothe.

Solace in a sentence

• noun

  After a disappointing result, she found solace in the company of old friends.

• verb

  The nurses tried to solace the frightened patients during the storm.

• noun

  He took some solace from the fact that the loan was finally repaid.

• verb

  Nothing the manager said could solace the staff after the layoffs.

Where does solace come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin solacium, meaning 'comfort' or 'consolation', which was built on the verb solari, 'to console, to soothe, to comfort'. English picked it up in the 1200s through the Old French solas, where it already carried the sense of relief or pleasure that eases distress. The same solari root lies behind the more transparent words 'console' and 'consolation', which is a useful memory hook because solace shares their idea of softening grief. The spelling trap is entirely in the ending: the final syllable is pronounced like 'iss', yet it is written -ace, and there is only a single c, never a double s. Over the centuries the meaning narrowed from any sort of comfort or amusement to the quieter, modern sense of relief found in the middle of sorrow or hardship.

How the word is built

• solac- (from Latin solari: to comfort)
• -e