Origin of the Word Solute

Abstract

IN view of the recent discussion as to the first use of the word solute¹, it may perhaps be of interest to notice that the word is used in 1732 in the modern sense by Boerhaave², in the Latin form solutum. In discussing the action of solvents, he states that the effect is the division of the dissolved substance into particles which are thoroughly mixed with the particles of solvent: ” ut particulae solvent is inter partes divisas soluti”, which Shaw³ translates: ” so that the particles of the solvent remain thoroughly intermixed among those of the solvend”. The name is used by Boerhaave throughout his long discussion of solutions, although he sometimes speaks of partes solvendi as an alternative. Whether the name is used before Boerhaave I cannot say.