Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “solve” come from?

Solve comes from Latin solvo, traced back to Proto-Italic swelawō, a verb of uncertain ultimate origin whose earliest sense involved loosening or releasing.

solve (English): To find an answer or solution to a problem or...

Definitions

  1. To find an answer or solution to a problem or...

Ancestry of “solve”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchdissoudreto dissolve
2Italianrisolvereto solve; to resolve; to settle
3Spanishresolverto resolve, to sort out, to settle, to address,...
4Latinresolvō—
5Latinrĕ-—
6Latinprōdūcō—
7Latinprō-—
8Proto-Italic*pro-—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
11Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
12Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “solve”

  • solving
  • solver
  • solvable
  • unsolvable
  • insolvable
  • backsolve
  • problemsolver
  • eigensolver
  • nonsolvable
  • solveth
  • unsolve
  • insolvably
  • solvible
  • solvableness
  • upsolve
  • supersolvable
  • speedsolving
  • solvest
  • backsolvable
  • solbad
  • sulbad
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →