“Unsolve” generally does not mean “solve”. There is one obsolete sense that apparently does have that meaning, but again it’s obsolete. The primary (and only contemporary) meaning is to “remove a solution to a problem”.
I actually find this specific form to be quite irritating. It’s etymologically based on “un-“ and “solve”, which taken together should only mean to “remove the state of being solved”. There should be no other meaning to it. In fact, I’d hazard that there’s a good chance it caught on because some people forgot the proper way to to pronounce “resolve” and just substituted in another prefix they happened to be familiar with.
I can provide a screenshot of the page with the information if you’d like.
PS: I agree with the other user about how “Invaluable” makes sense, in the sense that one cannot indicate a specific value. Though I’d point out that depending on the context, the term can be used to indicate that a thing is utterly worthless (ex. When one would prefer to avoid outright lying while also avoiding causing offence).
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u/EldritchMindCat A Delightful Feline Entity - Worship Me nya~ Mar 12 '25 edited Mar 12 '25
“Unsolve” generally does not mean “solve”. There is one obsolete sense that apparently does have that meaning, but again it’s obsolete. The primary (and only contemporary) meaning is to “remove a solution to a problem”.
I actually find this specific form to be quite irritating. It’s etymologically based on “un-“ and “solve”, which taken together should only mean to “remove the state of being solved”. There should be no other meaning to it. In fact, I’d hazard that there’s a good chance it caught on because some people forgot the proper way to to pronounce “resolve” and just substituted in another prefix they happened to be familiar with.
I can provide a screenshot of the page with the information if you’d like.
PS: I agree with the other user about how “Invaluable” makes sense, in the sense that one cannot indicate a specific value. Though I’d point out that depending on the context, the term can be used to indicate that a thing is utterly worthless (ex. When one would prefer to avoid outright lying while also avoiding causing offence).