Word.ws English Dictionary

two solitudes

two solitudes noun: the historical and, by some accounts, current dysfunctional relationship between the Anglophone and Francophone groups in Canada, characterized by poor communication and mutual exclusion.

Noun

two solitudes pl (plural only)

  1. (Canada, plural, plural-only, social criticism) The historical and, by some accounts, current dysfunctional relationship between the Anglophone and Francophone groups in Canada, characterized by poor communication and mutual exclusion.
    • [I]t may be pleaded that scholastic philosophy as it exists in Quebec has neither influenced, nor been influenced by, the development of modern philosophy elsewhere throughout the country during the last hundred years. Philosophically, Canada is a land of "two solitudes."1951, John A. Irving, “Philosophical Trends in Canada Between 1850 and 1950”, in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, volume 12, number 2, page 224
    • Montreal, where French and English have not merged but coexist in ‘two solitudes,’ has Latin flair but British solidity.1976, J. Wreford Watson, “Review: The Development of the Canadian City”, in The Geographical Journal, volume 142, number 3, page 509

Origin of two solitudes

First used by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) and applied to Canadian society in the title of a 1945 novel by Canadian author Hugh MacLennan.

Questions about two solitudes

What does two solitudes mean?
Two solitudes means the historical and, by some accounts, current dysfunctional relationship between the Anglophone and Francophone groups in Canada, characterized by poor communication and mutual exclusion.
What part of speech is two solitudes?
Two solitudes is a noun.

Words near two solitudes in the dictionary

  1. two shot
  2. two shots
  3. Two Sicilies
  4. two sides of the same coin
  5. two slips of latinum
  6. two solitudes
  7. two spirit
  8. two spirits
  9. two steps ahead
  10. two swords
  11. two tears in a bucket

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: two solitudes (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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