soluzione

Forms

soluzione f (plural soluzioni)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin solūtiō (“a loosening; payment”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin noun was formed from solūtus, the past participle of solvō (“to loosen, release; to pay”).^[3][5][6][7] De Vaan explains the verb as a compound of sē- (“away”) and -luō (“to loosen”).^[8] DEI compares Old French solucion of the 12th century, modern French solution.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in Giovanni Villani's chronicle, before 1348, for the answer to a question: “the solution of our question is very clear”.^[10][2][4] DEI also dates to the 14th century a medical use, soluzione di ventre “diarrhoea”, and the general sense “a loosening, dissolving”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The scholastic sense of answering a question or refuting an objection is common in the 14th century: Boccaccio, commenting on Dante, writes of the poet raising a doubt with Virgil and of its soluzion.^[2] The mathematical sense, the result of a problem, appears with Niccolò Tartaglia in 1546, and the chemical one, a substance dissolved in a liquid, with Ferrante Imperato in 1599.^[10] DEI dates the chemical definition as a mixture of a solid, liquid or gas in a liquid to the Italian Chambers of 1769.^[9]

Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio used the word for the unravelling of a dramatic plot before 1573, and the general sense “settlement of a complication” is recorded from 1891.^[10] The sense “payment of a debt” is in a document of 1549, though dictionaries record it only in 1950.^[10] In the 20th century the Nazi euphemism for the genocide of the Jews was rendered soluzione finale.^[5][11]

Timeline

• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses soluzione for the answer to a question.^[10][4]
• 1546 – Niccolò Tartaglia uses it for the solution of a mathematical problem.^[10]
• 1549 – A document uses it for the payment of a debt.^[10]
• Before 1573 – Giraldi Cinzio uses it for the resolution of a plot.^[10]
• 1599 – Ferrante Imperato uses it in chemistry.^[10]
• 1769 – The Italian Chambers defines the chemical solution.^[9]
• 1891 – The general sense “settling of a complication” is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (chemistry) The dissolving of one substance in another, usually a liquid.^[4][12] A homogeneous mixture of a solvent and one or more dissolved substances: una soluzione di acqua e bicarbonato.^{[4][13][12][11]}
2. The solution of a question, problem or difficulty, and the answer itself: Abbiamo cercato a lungo la soluzione dell'indovinello.^[4][5][13]
3. (mathematics) A value of the unknown that satisfies an equation or system of equations.^[4][12]
4. A way out, a remedy; a technical or design solution: Per il traffico in centro non vedo altra soluzione.^[5][12]
5. The settlement of a dispute.^[5][12]
6. (commerce) payment of a sum: pagare in un'unica soluzione, to pay in a single instalment.^[4][13]
7. Senza soluzione di continuità: without a break, continuously.^[4][1]

Word family

• soluzionare
• soluzionista

Related words

• risolvere
• solubile
• soluto
• solutore
• solvente
• solvere
• Latin solūtiō
• French solution

Usage notes

GDLI records a separate obsolete soluzione “absolution of sins”, a clipped form of assoluzione.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c d Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3538
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 362