ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

32 The concept and dimensions of solidarity ary, the noun solid is presented as an adaptation of the French solide and the Latin solidum . Its many meanings mostly relate to bodies that are thick and of an unbro- ken mass. As an adjective, the word solid etymologically derives from the mod- ern Latin-based solide/solido or the Latin adjective solidus . The meanings recog- nized by the OED date back to Chaucer’s 1391 Treatise on the Astrolabe , and they mostly signify the one who is whole (as opposed to hollow ), unbroken, dense or of massive consistency, steady, firm and continuously coherent, hard and compact, solidified, consolidated, united, unanimous, undivided, united in approval or op- position, intimately or closely allied, on friendly terms with another, sturdy, well- founded or established, substantial, marked or characterized by a high degree of religious fervour or seriousness, vigorous; in a body or as a whole, unanimously. Similarly, the adverb solidly has come to mean firmly and securely, with valid ar- guments or reasons, or on good grounds, really, thoroughly and truly, seriously, sol- emnly and earnestly, continuously, unanimously. Similarly, the verb to solidify ac- quired the transitive meaning of rendering solid, firm or compact (with the trans- ferred sense of concentrating and consolidating), and the intransitive meaning of becoming solid. These meanings are also met in the derivative words solidifiable , solidification , solidified , solidiform , the obsolete solidatively , and solidifier . 53 The second etymological source of the above concepts is traced by the OED in the Latin word solidus , primarily meaning a gold coin of the Roman Empire, orig- inally worth about 25 denarii, and later (1387) a shilling. 54 The derivative noun solidate has come to mean respectively “a piece of land of the annual value of a solidus or shilling”, and as past particle the solid and hard. The derivative, now rare verb solidate means to make solid or firm, to consolidate. Similarly, the also obsolete and rare solidation means the consolidation or strengthening. What is it that makes this reference to solidus so conceptually significant? What could this etymological connection tell us about the meaning of solidarity? Although I find the etymological connection of solidarity to a past word of mon- etary use to be significant by itself, this is not the aim of my argument. I would first like to turn our attention to the implicit meaning noted above of a consoli- dated whole, united, compact and firm. It is not coincidental that the Latin solid- us derives from Latin adjective sollus , meaning whole, entire, unbroken, ὅ λος in Greek, 55 which in turn etymologically derives from the Proto-Italic *solnos , from the Proto-Indo-European *sol(h 2 )nós , and finally from *solh 2 - (“whole”). It is the 53. “1894 DRUMMOND Ascent of Man 269 [War] the purifier of societies, the solidifier of states.” Quoted from OED, under ‘solidifier’. 54. A second, still surviving meaning is that of the sloping line first used to separate shil- lings from pence (i.e. 12/6), and later in writing fractions, and for other separations of figures and letters. 55. See Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary , Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1879.