Definition of "loneliness"

Cecilia proposed to her the society of Henrietta, which, glad to catch at any thing that would break into her loneliness, she listened to with pleasure […]

1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia‎, London: T. Payne, et al, Volume 5, Book 10, Chapter 5, p. 274

We […] feel deep pity for a man who is condemned to the loneliness of being remarkable […]

1948, Alan Paton, chapter 21, in Cry, the Beloved Country‎, New York: Scribner, page 154

Loneliness got a mind of its ownThe more people around, the more you feel alone

1997, Bob Dylan, “Marchin’ to the City”, in The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006‎

Hitherto all things that have bin nam’d, were approv’d of God to be very good: lonelines is the first thing which Gods eye nam’d not good […]

1645, John Milton, Tetrachordon‎, page 7

[I] was designing a piece of Landscape […] wherein I meant to expresse […] the beauties of the Vegetables, that do adorn that place, in the highest perfection I could: But presently after, being cast into Prison, I was deprived both of light and lonelinesse, two main helpers in that Art […]

1657, Richard Ligon, A True & Exact History of the Island of Barbados, London: Humphrey Moseley, Dedicatory letter to the Bishop of Salisbury

Wretched as were the little companions in misery he was leaving behind, they were the only friends he had ever known; and a sense of his loneliness in the great wide world sank into the child’s heart for the first time.

1837 February, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], “Treats of Oliver Twist’s Growth, Education, and Board”, in Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], published 1838, page 20

[…] as she sat at her bed-side, indulging melancholy reveries, which the loneliness of the hour assisted […]

1794, Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho, London: G.G. & J. Robinson, Volume 4, Chapter 3, p. 50

In addition, the very loneliness of the road had its charm for him; since only at rare intervals is house seen by its side, and rarer still living creature encountered upon it.

1877, Mayne Reid, chapter 4, in Gwen Wynn: A Romance of the Wye‎, volume 3, London: Tinsley Bros, page 34

The rest was all flat marsh. It would have been a depressing place on a wet evening. Seen under a morning sun, with a fresh wind blowing, and the air filled with the crying of birds, there was something fine and fresh and clean about its loneliness.

1953, C. S. Lewis, chapter 5, in The Silver Chair‎, New York: Scholastic, published 1987, pages 57–58

[…] I seeThe mystery of your loneliness, and findYour salt tears’ head: now to all sense ’tis grossYou love my son […]

c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene iii]