solicitatis

Sollicitatis is a Latin term appearing primarily as the genitive singular of a noun meaning solicitude, care, or anxiety. In standard Latin, the base abstract noun is solicitās (solicitude, concern), and its genitive singular is solicitātis. The form solicitatis thus functions inside a sentence as a possessive, roughly “of solicitude” or “of the anxious care” in English translations.

Etymology and meaning

Sollicitās derives from the adjective sollicitus, meaning anxious or solicitous, with the noun-forming suffix -tas (or -tās in classical spelling). The sense encompasses careful attention, diligence, and concerned care for someone or something. In Roman-era prose and later ecclesiastical Latin, the term can express a state or quality of attentive zeal, rather than a concrete action.

Usage

The word is relatively uncommon in everyday Latin but occurs in scholarly, philosophical, and liturgical texts. It is often found in phrases that describe the mental or moral state of concern for others, duties, or peace, e.g., constructions translating roughly as “the solicitude for the common good” or “the anxiety of the mind.” Because it is a genitive form, solicitatis appears within larger clauses rather than as a standalone noun.

Relation to modern languages

The root family survives in Romance languages through words like Spanish solicitud (solicitation or request) and Italian sollecitudine (solicitude). In English, the corresponding sense is conveyed by solicitude or anxious care, though the Latin form solicitatis itself is primarily encountered in linguistic or textual studies of Latin.

See also

Solicitude; sollicitus (anxious, solicitous); Latin grammar of nouns and genitives.