solon

noun so·lon \ ˈsō-lən , -ˌlän \

Examples: solon in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of solon

1 : a wise and skillful lawgiver

2 : a member of a legislative body

See solon defined for kids

solon was our Word of the Day on 01/27/2008. Hear the podcast!

Examples of solon in a Sentence

one of the most politically adept solons in the state legislature

Recent Examples of solon from the Web

The NFL Players Association has long been the most toothless of the big-league unions, while the NCAA has a vested interest in denying that its main money-maker presents any contradictions for the solons of higher education.

— theodore kupfer, National Review, "Will Football Survive?," 14 Dec. 2017
National Merit Scholars: Nine Solon students were named National Merit Scholarship winners, and each received $2,500 scholarships from the organization.

— joan rusek, cleveland.com, "The Caveman Crawl returns to The West Woods: Valley Views," 29 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'solon.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Solon was a particularly wise lawgiver in ancient Athens who was born in approximately 630 B.C. and lived until about 560 B.C. He was one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, and he implemented a number of reforms in Athenian law. In English, his name has been used generically since at least 1625 to refer to any wise statesman. Contemporary American journalists, with whom the term is especially popular, have extended the meaning even further to include any member of a lawmaking body, wise or not. In fact, today the word is sometimes used ironically for a legislator who displays a marked lack of wisdom, rather than a profusion of it.