Solent

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The narrow sea channel that lies between the Isle of Wight and the southern coast of England near Southampton
2. A strait in southern England running between the Isle of Wight and the mainland, known for its busy shipping and yachting
3. The body of water separating the Isle of Wight from the Hampshire coast of southern England

Etymology: The Solent is the strait of water separating the Isle of Wight from the English mainland, and its name is older than English itself. Old English speakers called it "Sol(u)ente", a name they inherited from people who lived here before them. Its meaning is lost. The name is generally thought to contain a second element related to a reconstructed prehistoric root meaning "to wet" or "to spring", which fits a channel of tidal water, but the first element remains obscure. The name survives largely because it was attached to a place that mattered. Scholars have studied the place-name alongside that of Roman Winchester, Venta Belgarum, to understand how such pre-English names passed into the Anglo-Saxon landscape. The word has since been applied to the strait alone, and it has no separate sense that readers would recognise from ordinary English vocabulary.