The story
- Anglo-Norman · derived fromdissoldre
- Latin · derived fromdissolvere“to loosen up, break apart”
- Middle English · inherited fromdissolven
- English todaydissolve
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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.