Unsolved

How to spell unsolved

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce unsolved

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does unsolved mean?

1. adjectiveNot yet answered, explained, or worked out; remaining without a solution.

Unsolved in a sentence

• The detective kept a file of unsolved cases on her desk.

• The equation remained unsolved after hours of work.

Where does unsolved come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word is built from the prefix un-, a native English negative meaning 'not', attached to the verb 'solve', which English took from the Latin solvere, meaning 'to loosen', 'to release', or 'to free'. In Latin solvere was itself a compound of se- 'apart' and luere 'to loosen', so the literal idea was of untying something that had been bound. English adopted 'solve' in the fifteenth century, at first in the sense of dissolving or freeing from a difficulty, and only later settled into the modern meaning of finding the answer to a problem. The adjective 'unsolved', formed by adding the participle ending -ed and the negative prefix, simply describes a problem, mystery, or case that has not yet been worked out. The same solvere root survives in relatives such as 'dissolve', 'resolve', and 'solution', which is a useful reminder that the second syllable is spelled solv, not solve, before the -ed.

How the word is built

• un- (not)
• solv (from Latin solvere: to loosen, release)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)