Etymology

monologue

M3O1N1O1L1O1G2U1E1

Today it means: A long speech by one person in a play; sometimes a soliloquy; other times spoken to other characters. Full definition →

Middle French monologue ← Medieval Greek μονόλογος (monólogos) ← Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos)
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*men-
  2. Proto-Hellenic*mónwos
  3. Ancient Greekμόνος (mónos)
  4. Ancient Greekμονο- (mono-)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*leǵ-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*lóǵos
  7. Proto-Hellenic*lógos
  8. Ancient Greekλόγος (lógos)
  9. Medieval Greekμονόλογος (monólogos)
  10. Middle Frenchmonologue
  11. English todaymonologue

First attested in c. 1550. Borrowed from Middle French monologue, modeled on dialogue, ultimately from Medieval Greek μονόλογος (monólogos). By surface analysis, mono- + -logue.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.