Today's Word "Solipsism"
The view that only the self can be known
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Published in Vocabulary
solipsism \sa-LIP-si-zehm\ (noun) - The view that only the self can be known or that the self is the only reality (egotism).
"When Catherine is writing, she falls into a solipsistic state impervious to the outside world."
Latin solus "alone" +ipse "self" + -ism. "Solus" is the origin of "solo" but also can be found in "solitary," "soliloquy," and "desolate." In the Germanic languages it became solein "alone," devolving into English "sullen." Apparently, there was a variant with a suffix bh which became English "self" and Russian sebya "self."
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