solution French · revision 16938

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1119, Philippe de Thaon|origins=la luo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɔ.ly.sjɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''solution''' ''f'' (plural solutions)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|soluciun]] (about 1119), ''solucion'', ''solution'' from about 1360 (Froissart).^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|solūtiō|t=loosening, dissolution; payment; explanation]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|12, 83a) in Church Latin also “absolution, deliverance”,^(DHLF 1992) from the supine of [[m|la|solvō|t=to untie, loosen; to pay; to dissolve; to solve]].^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) That verb is formed with the particle [[m|la|sē-|t=apart]] and [[m|la|luō|t=to loosen; to pay, atone for]], which corresponds to [[grc|λύω|tr=lúō|t=to loosen]] (compare [[analyse]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Petit Robert 2007) Wiktionary treats the Old French word as inherited.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Compare [[ro|soluție]], [[it|soluzione]], [[ca|solució]], [[es|solución]] and [[pt|solução]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears as ''soluciun'' in Philippe de Thaon (about 1119);^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) its first sense is “explanation”, then the resolving of a difficulty in concrete situations (about 1370).^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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).^(DHLF 1992) 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).^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) 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.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The answer to a mathematical problem is in Furetière (1690).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) 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''.^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF) The verb [[solutionner]] “to solve” dates from the end of the 19th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1119 – ''Soluciun'' in Philippe de Thaon.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1208 – “Payment”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1259 – “Absolution”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1314 – ''Solution de continuité'', in Mondeville.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1370 – The resolving of a difficulty.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1549 – ''Solution de mariage'' “divorce”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1690 – The answer to a problem; the dissolving of a solid (Furetière).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+ * 1811 – A liquid mixture, in Chateaubriand.^(BHVF)

+ * Late 19th century – ''Solutionner''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|solution]], answer to a question or problem: ''la solution d'une énigme'', ''solution d'une équation''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A way out of a difficulty, a resolution: ''trouver une solution''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(chemistry)'' The dissolving of a substance in a liquid; the liquid so obtained: ''solution saturée''.^(BHVF)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Solution de continuité'': a break, interruption.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Payment; in law, the final settlement of a debt.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[solutionner]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[résoudre]]

+ * [[dissoudre]]

+ * [[absolution]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}