Etymologically
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solution

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /səˈluː.ʃᵊn/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English solucioun,[2] borrowed from Old French solucion (“division, dissolving, explanation, payment”),[2][3] and directly from Latin solūtiō (“a loosening, unfastening”),[2][3] from solūtus, past participle of solvere (“to loosen, untie, solve, dissolve”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *se-lu-, from Proto-Indo-European *s(w)e-, the reflexive pronoun, and Proto-Indo-European *leu- (“to loosen”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of solving, explanation: 1375, in Barbour's The Bruce.[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In the late 14th century the word also meant the interpretation of a dream.[2] A particular answer or way of settling a problem is from 1382.[5] The action of dissolving a solid in a liquid is from 1390, in Gower's Confessio Amantis,[5][3] and the liquid containing a dissolved substance from 1594,[3] the 1590s in Etymonline.[2] In medicine it was the crisis of a disease (1851).[5] The obsolete senses “release” and “payment” (1489) echo the Latin “loosening”.[5]

Timeline

  • 1375 – the act of solving.[3][5]
  • 1382 – an answer to a problem.[5]
  • 1390 – the act of dissolving.[5][3]
  • 1489 – a payment.[5]
  • 1594 – a liquid with something dissolved in it.[3]
  • 1851 – the crisis of a disease.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A way of solving a problem, or the answer to one.
  2. A homogeneous mixture of two or more substances, usually a solid dissolved in a liquid.
  3. The process of dissolving, or the state of being dissolved.

Word family

  • solutional
  • exsolution
  • nonsolution
  • pseudosolution
  • solion
  • final solution
  • Benedict's solution
  • Dobell's solution
  • solve
  • dissolve
  • absolve
  • resolve
  • soluble
  • solvent
  • lose

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press