Solution

How to spell solution

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce solution

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does solution mean?

1. nounA way of solving a problem or dealing with a difficult situation.
2. nounA liquid in which a substance has been dissolved evenly throughout.

Solution in a sentence

• The team finally found a solution to the scheduling conflict.

• The nurse cleaned the wound with a mild saline solution.

• Installing extra storage was a cheap solution to the clutter.

• Stir the powder until it forms a clear solution.

Where does solution come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Solution comes from the Latin solutio, a noun built on the verb solvere, which literally meant 'to loosen' or 'to set free', and by extension 'to dissolve' or 'to release from a difficulty'. English took the word in the 1300s through Old French as solucion, where it first carried the sense of explaining or settling a problem. The chemical meaning, a substance loosened and dispersed into a liquid, grew naturally from the same idea of something being broken apart and freed. The very same solvere root sits inside the everyday words 'solve', 'dissolve', and 'solvent', which is a useful reminder that the middle of the word is spelled with the same -solu- you see in 'solve'. The single -t- before the -ion ending is the spot writers occasionally second-guess, but it traces straight back to the Latin past participle solutus.

How the word is built

• solut- (from solvere, past participle solutus: to loosen, dissolve)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)