Synonyms:
| loneliness, | privacy, | seclusion, | solitude. |
In retirement one withdraws from association he has had with others; we speak of the retirement of a public man to private life, tho he may still be much in company. In seclusion one shuts himself away from the society of all except intimate friends or attendants; in solitude no other person is present. While seclusion is ordinarily voluntary, solitude may be enforced; we speak of the solitude rather than the seclusion of a prisoner. As "private" denotes what concerns ourselves individually, privacy denotes freedom from the presence or observation of those not concerned or whom we desire not to have concerned in our affairs;[316] privacy is more commonly temporary than seclusion; we speak of a moment's privacy. There may be loneliness without solitude, as amid an unsympathizing crowd, and solitude without loneliness, as when one is glad to be alone.
Antonyms:
| association, | companionship, | company, | converse, | fellowship, | society. |
REVELATION.
Synonyms:
| apocalypse, | disclosure, | manifestation. |
Revelation (L. re, back, and velum, veil), literally an unveiling, is the act or process of making known what was before secret or hidden, or what may still be future. Apocalypse (Gr. apo, from, and kalypto, cover), literally an uncovering, comes into English as the name of the closing book of the Bible. The Apocalypse unveils the future, as if to the very gaze of the seer; the whole gospel is a disclosure of the mercy of God; the character of Christ is a manifestation of the divine holiness and love; all Scripture is a revelation of the divine will. Or we might say that nature is a manifestation of the divine character and will, of which Scripture is the fuller and more express revelation.