solution

Pronunciation

• IPA: /sɔ.ly.sjɔ̃/^[1]

Forms

solution f (plural solutions)^[1] Old French soluciun (about 1119), solucion, solution from about 1360 (Froissart).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin solūtiō (“loosening, dissolution; payment; explanation”),^[5][6][3][7] in Church Latin also “absolution, deliverance”,^[5] from the supine of solvō (“to untie, loosen; to pay; to dissolve; to solve”).^[5][2][1] That verb is formed with the particle sē- (“apart”) and luō (“to loosen; to pay, atone for”), which corresponds to Ancient Greek λύω (lúō, “to loosen”) (compare analyse).^[5][4][8] Wiktionary treats the Old French word as inherited.^[1]

Compare Romanian soluție, Italian soluzione, Catalan solució, Spanish solución and Portuguese solução.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It appears as soluciun in Philippe de Thaon (about 1119);^[2][3] its first sense is “explanation”, then the resolving of a difficulty in concrete situations (about 1370).^[5]

Semantic evolution

Early in the 13th century it took the Latin sense “payment” (1208), in law the final payment of a debt (14th century), and after Church Latin “pardon, absolution” (1259).^[5] In surgery solution de continuité (1314, Henri de Mondeville) was a wound or fracture, a break in what should be continuous; the phrase now means a break or gap, in things (1546) and in abstract matters (1680).^[5][4][6] With the idea of loosening it meant the annulment of a law (about 1360), and solution de mariage was divorce (1549); dissolution has taken over these senses.^[5]

The answer to a mathematical problem is in Furetière (1690).^[5][2] After another sense of solvō, the word named the dissolving of a solid in a liquid (1676, Furetière, 1690) and by metonymy the resulting mixture (Chateaubriand, 1811), whence solution saturée.^[5][9] The verb solutionner “to solve” dates from the end of the 19th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1119 – Soluciun in Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• 1208 – “Payment”.^[5]
• 1259 – “Absolution”.^[5]
• 1314 – Solution de continuité, in Mondeville.^[6]
• c. 1370 – The resolving of a difficulty.^[5]
• 1549 – Solution de mariage “divorce”.^[5]
• 1690 – The answer to a problem; the dissolving of a solid (Furetière).^[5][9]
• 1811 – A liquid mixture, in Chateaubriand.^[9]
• Late 19th century – Solutionner.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A solution, answer to a question or problem: la solution d'une énigme, solution d'une équation.^[8][1]
2. A way out of a difficulty, a resolution: trouver une solution.^[5][8]
3. (chemistry) The dissolving of a substance in a liquid; the liquid so obtained: solution saturée.^[9][2]
4. Solution de continuité: a break, interruption.^[5][6]
5. (obsolete) Payment; in law, the final settlement of a debt.^[5]

Word family

• solutionner

Related words

• résoudre
• dissoudre
• absolution

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 83a
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF