Other forms: solitaires
Solitaire is a game you play alone. In Britain it is the wooden board with thirty-three holes, where you jump marbles over each other until one is left; in America it is the card game that came free on every old computer, which the British call patience.
The other solitaire sits on a hand. A solitaire is a ring set with one stone and nothing else, and the word names the stone as well: a two-carat solitaire. Both senses run back to the same idea of being on your own, which is why solitaire and solitary are the same word in different clothes. The stress lands on the last syllable, sol-i-TAIRE.
1nounsolitaireA card game for one player.
“He played solitaire on the laptop until the meeting started.”
2nounboardA board game for one player in which pegs or marbles are jumped over each other and removed.
“A wooden solitaire board sat on the coffee table.”
3nounringA single gemstone set on its own, or a ring holding one.
“She chose a plain diamond solitaire.”
Solitaire came from French solitaire, from Latin sōlitārius, 'alone'. It is a doublet of solitary — one Latin word that reached English twice, once in French dress and once in Latin. One player, one stone: the meaning never left the idea of being on your own.
Latin
sōlitārius
French
solitaire
English, today
solitaire
French solitaire, ultimately from Latin sōlitārius. a doublet of solitary.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA