Dictionary

denouement

noun de·noue·ment \ˌdā-ˌnü-ˈmäⁿ, dā-ˈnü-ˌ\

: the final part of something (such as a book, a play, or a series of events)

Full Definition of DENOUEMENT

1
:  the final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work
2
:  the outcome of a complex sequence of events

Variants of DENOUEMENT

de·noue·ment also ·noue·ment \ˌdā-ˌnü-ˈmäⁿ, dā-ˈnü-ˌ\
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Origin of DENOUEMENT

French dénouement, literally, untying, from Middle French desnouement, from desnouer to untie, from Old French desnoer, from des- de- + noer to tie, from Latin nodare, from nodus knot — more at node
First Known Use: 1705

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

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