dissolve

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To terminate a union of multiple members actively, as by disbanding.
2. (transitive) To destroy, make disappear.
3. (transitive) To liquify, melt into a fluid.
4. (intransitive) To be melted, changed into a fluid.
5. (physical) (transitive) To disintegrate chemically into a solution by immersion into a liquid or other material.
6. (physical) (intransitive) To be disintegrated by such immersion.
7. (transitive) To disperse, drive apart a group of persons.
8. (transitive) To break the continuity of; to disconnect; to loosen; to undo; to separate.
9. (transitive) To annul; to rescind; to discharge or release.
10. (intransitive) To shift from one shot to another by having the former fade out as the latter fades in.
11. (intransitive) To resolve itself as by dissolution.
12. (obsolete) To solve; to clear up; to resolve.
13. To relax by pleasure; to make powerless.
14. To separate a ligature into its component letters.

Noun

a form of film punctuation in which there is a gradual transition from one scene to the next

Opposite of

establish, found

Synonyms

melt

break up

thaw

disperse

dismiss

dilute

vanish

liquefy

disband

resolve

fuse

terminate

disappear

cancel

unthaw

melt away

fade away

close

liquate

dethaw

unfreeze

separate

solve

scatter

mix

break

decompose

digest

clear off

cease

caramelize

destroy

wear out

caramelise

smelt

scramble

run

annul

take apart

conclude

pass away

fade out

end

🔚

dissipate

dismantle

demolish

be used up

clear

beetle

🪲

addle

Translations

dissoudre

auflösen

disolver

dissolver

oplossen

lösen

sciogliere

dissoldre

deshacer

διαλύω

dissolvere

fondre

ontbinden

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɪˈzɒlv/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: dissolven

Cognate with Old French: dissoudre

In summary

Recorded since c. 1374 (displacing Old English toliesan) as Middle English dissolven, from Latin dissolvere (“to loosen up, break apart”) but with the sense from Anglo-Norman dissoldre (variant of Old French dissoudre), itself from dis- (“apart”) + solvere (“to loose, loosen”). By surface analysis, dis- + solve.