… that brought with it the benefits of mutual support and protection. The distinct word ‘lonely’ appeared in the English language only in the early seventeenth century, yet, as Diana Webb argues, it was barely distinguishable in meaning from … Solitude in the Middle Ages (London & New York: Continuum, 2007), p. xv. 3 . Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language (London, 1755), entry for ‘Solitude’. 4 . Fay Bound Alberti, A Biography of Loneliness: The History of an …