Word Confusion: Desolation versus Dissolution

Posted December 17, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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It was in a newsletter, announcing bad news, that our building’s Tenant Association was dissolved. That the desolation was as follows . . .

Well, yes, there was desolation that the dissolution was done on the sly, not bringing it up at a Tenants Association meeting . . . And I felt desolation that there was a word confusion desolution vs dissolution.

Desolation is barren, intense sadness, complete destruction.

Dissolution is a closing down of a relationship or an official body; a breakdown of something solid into liquid form; and, excessive indulgence.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Desolation	Dissolution
The Desolation of Ames Monument is GrandPrismatic‘s own work and is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons.	The Dissolution of Parliament has no known copyright restrictions and is courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Part of Grammar:
Noun Plural: desolation	Noun Plural: dissolutions
Noun: A state of complete emptiness or destruction [Psychology] Anguished misery, wretchedness, or loneliness Being abandoned, forsaken Devastation Ruin [Physical Geography] Barren waste	Noun: The closing down or dismissal of an assembly, partnership, or official body Annulment or termination of a formal or legal bond or relationship [Technical] The action or process of breaking down or melting down, becoming incorporated into a liquid so as to form a solution Disintegration Decomposition Liquefaction [Archaic] Death Debauched living Dissipation Indulgence in sensual pleasures
Examples:
Noun: The stony desolation of the desert had its own beauty. A drought had brought desolation to the region. He felt a sense of utter desolation following the death of his parents. In choked desolation, she watched him leave.	Noun: “The dissolution of allegiance to the British crown, the severance of the colonies from the British Empire, and their actual existence as independent States, were definitively established in fact, by war and peace” (Adams). The dissolution of their marriage was granted yesterday. Henry VIII declared the abbey’s dissolution in 1540. Minerals are susceptible to dissolution. We observed the dissolution of the flesh. “The sufferer was fast approaching dissolution — dragged almost to the verge of that awful chasm he trembled to contemplate, from which no agony of prayers or tears could save him” (Bronte, ch 44). He was in an advanced state of dissolution. The dissolution of the empire was remarkably swift.
Derivatives:
Adjective: desolate Adverb: desolately Noun: desolateness, desolator Verb: desolate	Adjective: dissolutive, dissolvable Noun: dissolve, dissolvent, dissolver Verb: dissolve
History of the Word:
Late Middle English from the late Latin desolatio(n-), from the Latin desolare meaning to abandon.	Late Middle English from the Latin dissolutio(n-), from the verb dissolvere.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

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