solver

Forms

solver (first-person singular present suelvo, first-person singular preterite solví, past participle suelto)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin solvō (“to loosen, untie, release”).^[2][3][1] Corominas dates the Old Spanish verb, with the senses “to absolve”, “to resolve” and “to dissolve”, from 1100 to the 15th century.^[2] Wiktionary treats it as inherited, while DICCA-XV calls it taken from Latin.^[1][4]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese solver, Catalan soldre, French soudre and Italian solvere.^[5][6][1] Nascentes considers the Portuguese verb a learned word.^[7]

The Latin verb is a compound of sē- (“away”) and luō (“to loosen”).^[8][1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest Spanish record in the CDH is in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy), in Isaac's blessing of Esau: e solveras so jugo de sobre tu cerviz “and you will loosen his yoke from your neck”.^[10][11] Berceo uses it for priests who absolve sinners (solver los pecadores) and for explaining prophecies.^[10][12]

Semantic evolution

In the prose of Alfonso X the verb meant to absolve a penitent, to dissolve a substance in a liquid, to separate things that were joined, and to undo or destroy.^[13] Its participle suelto became an independent adjective, and the new verb soltar, formed from suelto and recorded in the Cid, gradually took over the senses of solver.^[2]

By 1726 the Diccionario de Autoridades noted that solver “to untie or resolve” was no longer in use, and the Academy's editions from 1869 marked it as old.^[14][15] The verb kept a learned life in the sense “to resolve”: the Academy's 1899 edition referred it to resolver, and a document from Cuzco of 1815 uses it of paying a debt.^[16][17] Today the DLE labels both its senses, solving a doubt and finding the solution of a problem, as no longer used.^[3][18]

Timeline

• 1100 – Corominas's first date for the Old Spanish verb.^[2]
• c. 1200 – solveras in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (in a 13th-century copy).^[10][11]
• 1228–1246 – Berceo's Sacrificio de la misa: solver los pecadores.^[10]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses the participle suelta of a stone dissolved in water.^[13]
• 1726 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as “to untie or resolve” and says it is no longer used.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology from Latin solvere.^[19]

Meanings

Verb

1. (obsolete) To solve or settle doubt (duda).^[3][1]
2. (obsolete) To find the solution (solución) of a problem.^[3][18]
3. (obsolete) To untie or loosen.^[14][20]
4. (obsolete) To absolve (absolver) from sin.^[13][2]

Related words

• soltar
• suelto
• absolver
• resolver
• disolver
• solución
• Latin solvō
• Portuguese solver

Usage notes

Solver survives only as an obsolete or learned word; its participle suelto lives on as an adjective, and resolver and soltar have taken over its senses.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 23
3. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. solver
4. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. solver
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. art. 6223
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. solvere
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. solver
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. solvō
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. solver
11. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. solver
12. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 727
13. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. solver
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 147
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 721
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 925
17. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. solver
18. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. solver
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 987
20. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 1064