[ad. L. solūt-um, or substantival use of next. Cf. OF. solut payment.]
† 1. A sum to be received in payment. Obs.–1
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 149. His Masters Borrador, or booke of remembrances, wherein hee sets downe his Solutes and his debts, what hee is to receiue and what to pay.
2. The substance dissolved in a solution.
1904. W. C. Dampier-Whetham, Rec. Develop. Phys. Sci., iv. 115. The nature of the interaction which occurs between the solute and the solvent is unknown, possibly unknowable.
1908. Athenæum, 25 July, 102/1. The osmotic action which allows the solvent to pass through a semi-permeable wall while retaining the solute.
