Combine and dissolve pull in opposite directions. Combine is to bring separate things together into one set, each part keeping its identity. Dissolve is for a solid to break down and disappear into a liquid, or for a body to be formally ended. Combine builds one thing from several; dissolve breaks a thing down or winds it up.
One assembles, the other undoes. Combine, from com- 'together', gathers separate things into a single group without erasing them. Dissolve, from Latin dissolvere 'to loosen apart', breaks a solid down until it vanishes into a liquid, or ends an organization (a parliament or partnership is dissolved). You combine two departments into one team; a team can later be dissolved. One brings together and keeps; the other loosens apart and ends.
combine
To combine is to bring two or more things together so they work or count as one — combine ingredients, combine forces, combine two datasets. From the Latin com- 'together' and bini 'two by two'. What is combined is pooled for a purpose, but the parts often stay distinguishable, unlike things that merge or fuse into a single body. As a noun, with the stress moved to the front, a combine is the farm machine that combines reaping, threshing, and gathering into one pass.
dissolve
To dissolve is for a solid to break apart into a liquid until it disappears into it — sugar dissolves in water — or, by extension, for something to fade out or be formally ended (a marriage, a company, a parliament is dissolved). From the Latin dissolvere, 'to loosen apart', from solvere 'to loosen', the root of solve and solvent. A substance dissolves when its particles separate and spread evenly through the liquid — the reverse of what happens when droplets coalesce. Governments dissolve; tension dissolves; a crowd can dissolve into laughter.
| combine | dissolve | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | bring things together into one set | break down into liquid; be ended |
| The thing | is built up from parts | breaks down or is wound up |
| The parts | kept, each still itself | lost into the liquid, or gone |
| Often with | ingredients, forces, teams | sugar, salt, parliament, a firm |
| Noun | combination | dissolution |
| Example | Combine the ingredients. | The sugar dissolves in water. |
Ask whether the thing is being built or broken. Combine puts separate things together into one set that keeps its parts — the berries and oats in one bowl. Dissolve breaks a solid down until it disappears into liquid, or ends a body outright — the sugar cube lost into the water. If things are gathered and kept, that is combine; if one thing breaks down or is wound up, that is dissolve.
combine
- iCombine the eggs and milk before you add the flour.
- iiThe two charities combined their fundraising efforts.
- iiiTalent and hard work combined to make her a champion.
dissolve
- iStir until the salt dissolves completely.
- iiParliament was dissolved ahead of the election.
- iiiThe partnership was dissolved after ten years.
Combine builds one thing from several and keeps the parts; dissolve breaks a solid down into a liquid or winds an organization up. For a group they are near-opposites — two teams can combine into one, or a team can be dissolved and cease to exist — but dissolve also covers the chemistry sense that combine, in its everyday use, does not.