Dis`so*lu"tion (?), n. [OE.
dissolucioun dissoluteness, F. dissolution, fr. L.
dissolutio, fr. dissolvere. See Dissolve.]
1. The act of dissolving, sundering, or
separating into component parts; separation.
Dissolutions of ancient amities.
Shak.
2. Change from a solid to a fluid state;
solution by heat or moisture; liquefaction; melting.
3. Change of form by chemical agency;
decomposition; resolution.
The dissolution of the compound.
South.
4. The dispersion of an assembly by
terminating its sessions; the breaking up of a partnership.
Dissolution is the civil death of
Parliament.
Blackstone.
5. The extinction of life in the human body;
separation of the soul from the body; death.
We expected
Immediate dissolution.
Milton.
6. The state of being dissolved, or of
undergoing liquefaction.
A man of continual dissolution and
thaw.
Shak.
7. The new product formed by dissolving a
body; a solution. Bacon.
8. Destruction of anything by the separation
of its parts; ruin.
To make a present dissolution of the
world.
Hooker.
9. Corruption of morals; dissipation;
dissoluteness. [Obs. or R.] Atterbury.
