mid-14c., of persons, "disconsolate, miserable, overwhelmed with grief, deprived of comfort;" late 14c., of persons, "without companions, solitary, lonely;" also, of places, "uninhabited, abandoned," from Latin desolatus, past participle of desolare "leave alone, desert," from de- "completely" (see de-) + solare "make lonely," from solus "alone" (see sole (adj.)). Related: Desolately; desolateness.
1660s, "long speech by one person, scene in a drama in which a person speaks by himself," from French monologue, from Late Greek monologos "speaking alone or to oneself," from Greek monos "single, alone" (from PIE root *men- (4) "small, isolated") + logos "speech, word," from legein "to speak," from PIE root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives meaning "to speak (to 'pick out words')." Related: Monologist.
"place of residence occupied in common by persons seeking religious seclusion from the world," c. 1400, monasterie, from Old French monastere "monastery" (14c.) and directly from Late Latin monasterium, from Ecclesiastical Greek monastērion "a monastery," from monazein "to live alone," from monos "alone" (from PIE root *men- (4) "small, isolated"). With suffix -terion "place for (doing something)." Originally applied to houses of any religious order, male or female, but commonly especially one used by monks. Related: Monasterial (mid-15c.).
