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
- A solution, answer to a question or problem: la solution d'une énigme, solution d'une équation.[8][1]
- A way out of a difficulty, a resolution: trouver une solution.[5][8]
- (chemistry) The dissolving of a substance in a liquid; the liquid so obtained: solution saturée.[9][2]
- Solution de continuité: a break, interruption.[5][6]
- (obsolete) Payment; in law, the final settlement of a debt.[5]
Word family
- solutionner
Related words
- résoudre
- dissoudre
- absolution
References
- ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 83a
- ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF