Sol n. 1

the star that Earth orbits; the Sun

OED has evidence for the use of Sol as a personification of the Sun from the 15th century.

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  • 1929 ‘L. F. Stone’ Out of the Void in Amazing Stories Aug. 454/1 page image Leslie F. Stone bibliography

    Directly behind us lay the Sun, a great flaming ball that was blinding. A little to the left, appearing as large though not as bright as old Sol, was Mother Earth.

  • 1931 N. Schachner & A. L. Zagat Emperor of the Stars in Wonder Stories Apr. 1229/2 Arthur Leo Zagat Nat Schachner bibliography

    There’s Orion, there’s Cassiopeia, there’s Lyra, there’s Old Sol! We're home again.

  • 1932 J. W. Campbell Invaders from Infinite in Amazing Stories Quarterly Spring 211/1 John W. Campbell, Jr.

    There were twelve gigantic worlds, each far larger than Jupiter of Sol, and larger than Stwall of Talso’s sun, Renl.

  • 1934 E. E. Smith Triplanetary in Amazing Stories Mar. 29/1 page image Edward E. Smith

    Finally, their most pressing questions answered, they turned their most powerful ultra-beam communicator toward the yellowish star which they knew to be Old Sol.

  • 1935 ‘D. A. Stuart’ Night in Astounding Stories Oct. 13/2 John W. Campbell, Jr.

    That was Earth. And it was old Sol. Old—old Sol. It was the time axis that coil distorted, not gravity at all.

  • 1942 J. W. Campbell Supernova Centaurus in Astounding Science-Fiction Feb. 6/2 page image John W. Campbell, Jr. bibliography

    We've considered what might happen if Sol itself went nova. If it should go supernova, no worse could happen; Earth and all life on it would be fused and volatilized in either case.

  • 1952 H. B. Piper Uller Uprising (1983) xi H. Beam Piper

    It is the second planet of the star Beta Hydri, right angle 0:23, declension -77:32, G-0 (solar) type star, of approximately the same size as Sol; distance from Earth, 21 light years.

  • 1953 A. Norton Star Rangers (1985) 198 Andre Norton bibliography

    ‘Terra of Sol.’ He read it aloud and the three words seemed to echo more loudly down the hall than any of the shouted names of the kindred stars. ‘Terra of Sol—man’s beginning!’

  • 1983 D. Brin Startide Rising 81 David Brin

    The great cylinder was only twenty meters across. The vista wasn’t as impressive as the view from the hub of one of the space cities of Sol’s asteroid belts.

  • 1990 A. McCaffrey & J. L. Nye Death of Sleep (1992) 167 Anne McCaffrey Jody Lynn Nye bibliography

    Partly because of the Admiral’s influence, but also because it is convenient to our mission, we’re going to Alpha Centauri, then toward Sol.

  • 1991 K. Laumer Judson's Eden 54 Keith Laumer

    Figures: made out of the same gas cloud as Sol and the System.

  • 2019 ‘J. S. A. Corey’ Tiamat’s Wrath xiii. 82 Daniel Abraham Ty Franck bibliography

    Sol was still ‘the sun’ even though there were thirteen hundred more like it, shining down on human heads.


Research requirements

antedating 1929

Earliest cite

L. F. Stone 'Out of the Void'

Research History
Brian Hopper submitted a cite from a 1968 reprint of Robert Heinlein's "Red Planet". Rick Hauptmann verified this cite in a 1950 reprint
James Birdsall submitted a cite from a 1985 reprint of Andre Norton's "Star Rangers".
Jeff Wolfe submitted a cite from a 1983 reprint of H. Beam Piper's 1952 novel "Uller Uprising".
Imran Ghory submitted a cite from a 1995 reprint of Isaac Asimov's "Escape"; Mike Christie verified it in the 1945 original appearance.
Enoch Forrester submitted a cite from a 1965 reprint of E.E. Smith's "Triplanetary"
Dan Tilque submitted a cite from E.E. Smith's "Galactic Patrol"; Mike Christie verified it in the original 1937 magazine appearance.
Enoch Forrester submitted a 1983 cite from David Brin's "Startide Rising".
Fred Galvin submitted a cite from a reprint of John W. Campbell's "The Black Star Passes"; but Andrew May determined that the cite was not in the original 1930 magazine appearance.
Katrina Campbell submitted a cite from a 1992 reprint of Anne McCaffrey and Jody Lynn Nye's 1990 "The Death of Sleep".
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1931 cite from Nathan Schachner and Arthur Leo Zagat's "The Emperor of the Stars".
Jeff Prucher submitted a 1929 cite from Leslie F. Stone's "Out of the Void".
Fred Galvin submitted a 1932 cite from John W. Campbell Jr.'s "Invaders From the Infinite".
Ben Ostrowsky submitted a 2019 cite from "James S. A. Corey".

Note that some of the early cites use "Old Sol", which itself is found since the early 19th century, and may represent a personification rather than a purely astronomical reference. However, the cites here show "Old Sol" in off-Earth contexts. (The OED has cites going back to 1450 for Sol in the sense of the Sun personified.)

Last modified 2022-05-18 14:27:54
In the compilation of some entries, HDSF has drawn extensively on corresponding entries in OED.