dissolve

Where does the word "dissolve" come from? It comes from Latin dissolvere, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Dissolve’s story begins in Latin: dissolvere meant “to loosen apart, to break up.” To loosen apart, to break up, from dis- (apart) and solvere (to loosen). It reached English by 1300s as dissolve. Settled as the English word for a solid breaking down in liquid, or ending something. Today, dissolve means for a solid to break down and mix into a liquid, or to formally end something.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient dissolvere "to loosen apart, to break up", to loosen apart, to break up, from dis- (apart) and solvere (to loosen).
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s dissolve "for a solid to break down in liquid, or to end something formally", settled as the English word for a solid breaking down in liquid, or ending something.