# solve
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English solven, from Latin solvō.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /sɑlv/, /sɔlv/
** (Canada) IPA: [sɔ(ː)ɫv]
* (UK) IPA: /sɒlv/
** (Standard Southern British) IPA: [sɔɫv], (L-vocalisation) [sɔʊ̯v]
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA: /sɔlv/, [sɔɫv], (L-vocalisation) [sɔʊ̯v]
* Rhymes: -ɒlv

### Verb

solve (third-person singular simple present solves, present participle solving, simple past and past participle solved)
* To find an answer or solution to a problem or question; to work out.
** 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:True piety would effectually solve such scruples.
** 1649, Thomas Tickell, Thoughts occasioned by the sight of an original picture of King Charles I taken at the time of his trial:God shall solve the dark decrees of fate.
** 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […].
* to find out the perpetrator, the motive etc (of crime)
    to solve a murder   to solve a crime
* (mathematics) To find the values of variables that satisfy a system of equations and/or inequalities.
* (mathematics) To algebraically manipulate an equation or inequality into a form that isolates a chosen variable on one side, so that the other side consists of an expression that may be used to generate solutions.
* (transitive) To loosen or separate the parts of.
** (chemistry, archaic) To dissolve

#### Derived terms

* problem-solve
* re-solve
* solvable

#### Related terms

* absolve
* dissolve
* resolve
* soluble
* solute
* solution
* solvent

#### Translations
### Noun

solve (plural solves)
* (now rare, chiefly law enforcement) A solution; an explanation.
** 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 69”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:The solve is this, that thou dost common grow.
** 2014 February 4, The Party, Gil Ozeri and Gabe Liedman (writers), Michael Engler (director), Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season 1, episode 16:
    KEVIN: I decided a long time ago that just because I love Raymond, doesn't mean I have to love the people he works with. Good solve, Detective.
** 2017, Elodia Strain, The Dating Experiment, →ISBN:“Hey, Mr. Quilt Bandit.” Ian smiled. “Nice solve, Nancy Drew.”

### Anagrams

* Loves, loves, slove, voles, voëls

## Italian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈsɔl.ve/
* Rhymes: -ɔlve
* Hyphenation: sòl‧ve

### Verb

solve
* third-person singular present indicative of solvere

### Anagrams

* svelo, svelò, volse

## Latin
### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈsol.u̯e/, [ˈs̠ɔɫ̪u̯ɛ]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈsol.ve/, [ˈsɔlve]

### Verb

solve
* second-person singular present active imperative of solvō

### References

* "solve", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

## Middle English
### Verb

solve
* Alternative form of solven