Part 559

Sol"lein (?), a. Sullen; sad. [Obs.] Spenser.

Sol*ler*et" (?), n. [F. soleretim. fr. OF. soler shoe.] A flexible steel shoe (or one of the plates forming such a shoe), worn with mediæval armor.

Sol`mi*za"tion (?), n. [F. solmisation, fr. solmiser to sol-fa; -- called from the musical notes sol, mi. See Sol-fa.] (Mus.) The act of sol-faing. [Written also solmisation.]

This art was practiced by the Greeks; but six of the seven syllables now in use are generally attributed to Guido d' Arezzo, an Italian monk of the eleventh century, who is said to have taken them from the first syllables of the first six lines of the following stanza of a monkish hymn to St. John the Baptist. --

Ut queant laxis Resonare fibris Mira gestorum Famuli tuorum Solve polluti Labii reatum, Sancte Joannes.

Professor Skeat says the name of the seventh note, si, was also formed by him [Guido] from the initials of the two words of the last line; but this is disputed, Littré attributing the first use of it to Anselm of Flanders long afterwards. The syllable do is often substituted for ut.

So"lo (?), n.; pl. E. Solos (#), It. Soli (#). [It., from L. solus alone. See Sole, a.] (Mus.) A tune, air, strain, or a whole piece, played by a single person on an instrument, or sung by a single voice.

So"lo*ist, n. (Mus.) One who sings or plays a solo.

Sol"o*mon (?), n. One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man. -- Sol`o*mon"ic (#), a.

Solomon's seal (Bot.), a perennial liliaceous plant of the genus Polygonatum, having simple erect or curving stems rising from thick and knotted rootstocks, and with white or greenish nodding flowers. The commonest European species is Polygonatum multiflorum. P. biflorum and P. giganteum are common in the Eastern United States. See Illust. of Rootstock. -- False Solomon's seal (Bot.), any plant of the liliaceous genus Smilacina having small whitish flowers in terminal racemes or panicles.

So"lon (?), n. A celebrated Athenian lawmaker, born about 638 b. c.; hence, a legislator; a publicist; -- often used ironically.

Sol*pu"gid (?), a. (Zoöl.) Of or pertaining to the Solifugæ. -- n. One of the Solifugæ.

||Sol`pu*gid"e*a (?), n. pl. [NL. See Solifugæ.] (Zoöl.) Same as ||Solifugæ.

Sol"stice (?), n.[L. solstitium; sol the sun + sistere to cause to stand, akin to stare to stand: cf. F. solstice. See Solar, a., Stand, v. i.] 1. A stopping or standing still of the sun. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

2. (Astron.) (a) The point in the ecliptic at which the sun is farthest from the equator, north or south, namely, the first point of the sign Cancer and the first point of the sign Capricorn, the former being the summer solstice, latter the winter solstice, in northern latitudes; -- so called because the sun then apparently stands still in its northward or southward motion. (b) The time of the sun's passing the solstices, or solstitial points, namely, about June 21 and December 21. See Illust. in Appendix.

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Sol*sti"tial (?), a. [L. solstitialis: cf. F. solsticial.] 1. Of or pertaining to a solstice.

2. Happening at a solstice; esp. (with reference to the northern hemisphere), happening at the summer solstice, or midsummer. "Solstitial summer's heat." Milton.

Sol`u*bil"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. solubilité.] 1. The quality, condition, or degree of being soluble or solvable; as, the solubility of a salt; the solubility of a problem or intricate difficulty.

2. (Bot.) The tendency to separate readily into parts by spurious articulations, as the pods of tick trefoil.

Sol"u*ble (?), a. [L. solubilis, fr. solvere, solutum, to loosen, to dissolve: cf. F. soluble. See Solve, and cf. Solvable.] 1. Susceptible of being dissolved in a fluid; capable of solution; as, some substances are soluble in alcohol which are not soluble in water.

Sugar is . . . soluble in water and fusible in fire.

Arbuthnot.

2. Susceptible of being solved; as, a soluble algebraic problem; susceptible of being disentangled, unraveled, or explained; as, the mystery is perhaps soluble. "More soluble is this knot." Tennyson.

3. Relaxed; open or readily opened. [R.] "The bowels must be kept soluble." Dunglison.

Soluble glass. (Chem.) See under Glass.

Sol"u*ble*ness, n. Quality or state of being soluble.

{ ||So"lus (?), masc. a., So"la (?), fem. a. } [L.] Alone; -- chiefly used in stage directions, and the like.