dissolu

Forms

dissolu (feminine dissolue, masculine plural dissolus, feminine plural dissolues)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dissolūtus (“loose, dissipated, depraved”), the past participle of dissolvō (“to dissolve, loosen”), used as an adjective.^[2][3][4] In Latin the participle meant “detached, careless”, “slack, indolent” and “loose, dissolute”, and French took it in the moral sense.^[3] The verb is formed from Latin dis- + solvō (“to loosen”) and also gave French dissoudre.^[2][5]

Littré notes that the literal sense is “unbound, unchained”, whence “having lost its moral restraint”.^[5] Cognate with Old Occitan dissolut, Spanish disoluto and Italian dissoluto.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found at the end of the 12th century in the phrase dissolue vie “dissolute life”, in the French Sermons of Saint Bernard.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

The adjective kept the moral sense it was borrowed with: of a person, living in debauchery, and of a life or of morals, marked by it.^[3][6] Middle French also used it of things “spoilt, corrupt, in bad condition”,^[8] and Littré's 14th-century quotations speak of lieux dissolus, places of debauchery such as taverns.^[5]

In the classical period it also meant “broken, disunited”, of a bond such as a marriage, a friendship or a society.^[3] A figurative literary use, “without sharpness or brightness”, is recorded in Proust before 1922.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1190 – Dissolue vie in the Sermons of Saint Bernard.^[2][9]
• c. 1265 – The adverb, as dessoluement, in Brunetto Latini's Trésor.^[2][3]
• 14th century – Lieux dissolus “places of debauchery” in the Livre du roi Modus.^[5]
• Before 1922 – Proust uses it figuratively of a washed-out colour.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (literary) Of a person: living in debauchery, dissolute, profligate.^[10][2][1]
2. Of a life or of morals: marked by debauchery, depraved: vie dissolue, mœurs dissolues.^[10][6]
3. (figurative, literary) Without sharpness or brightness.^[6]

Word family

• dissolument

Related words

• dissoudre
• dissolution
• dissoluble
• Latin dissolūtus

Usage notes

The adverb dissolument “dissolutely” is now dated.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 83b
5. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 2:1956
8. ^ Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert