solve
pronunciation
How to pronounce solve in British English:
UK [sɒlv]
How to pronounce solve in American English:
US [sɑːlv]
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- Verb:
- find the solution to (a problem or question) or understand the meaning of
- find the solution
- settle, as of a debt
Word Origin
- solve
- solve: [15] Etymologically, solve means ‘release’, particularly by the payment of debt. It was borrowed from Latin solvere ‘release, unbind, pay’, which was descended from an earlier *seluere. This was a compound verb based on luere ‘loosen, release, pay’, a descendant of the same Indo-European base that produced English analyse, loose, lose, etc.The notion of ‘payment of debts’ survives in English solvent [17], and a metaphorical extension of ‘loosening’ to ‘turning a solid into a liquid’ can be seen in soluble [14] and the derivative dissolve [14]. The use of solve for ‘explain’, now the major English sense, emerged in Latin, but it was not a major feature of the Latin verb. Other related forms include absolute, absolve, and resolve [14].=> absolute, absolve, analyse, dissolve, loose, lose, resolve, solution
- solve (v.)
- late 14c., "to disperse, dissipate, loosen," from Latin solvere "to loosen, dissolve; untie, release, detach; depart; unlock; scatter; dismiss; accomplish, fulfill; explain; remove," from PIE *se-lu-, from reflexive pronoun *s(w)e- (see idiom) + root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart" (see lose). The meaning "explain, answer" is attested from 1530s; for sense evolution, see solution. Mathematical use is attested from 1737. Related: Solved; solving.
Example
- 1. Those are the problems we should solve .
- 2. What tool did you use to solve that maths problem ?
- 3. That 's a big range-but it could help solve crimes when the victims can 't be found .
- 4. To measure self-confidence , job applicants were asked to estimate how many mazes they could solve in fifteen minutes .
- 5. Design should help solve problems .