Standard Lemma guide

dénouement

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /deˈnuːmɑ̃/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˌdeɪ.nuˈmɑnt/
  • US: /ˌdeɪ.nuˈmɑ̃/

1

noun

Meaning 1

The conclusion or resolution of a plot; unravelling.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, narratology, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French dénouement (“resolution”, literally “unknotting”).

Across languages

Translations

26 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 結局 /结局 (jiéjú) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Chinese Mandarin: 收場 /收场 (shōuchǎng) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Dutch: ontknoping — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Finnish: loppuratkaisu — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • German: Auflösung — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • German: Ausgang — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • German: Ende — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • German: Entscheidung — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Hungarian: végkifejlet — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Hungarian: kifejlet — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Hungarian: kimenetel — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Hungarian: kibontakozás — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Irish: dénouement — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Irish: scaoileadh — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Māori: tatūnga — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Portuguese: desfecho — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Romanian: deznodământ — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Russian: разга́дка (razgádka) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Russian: развя́зка (razvjázka) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Russian: исхо́д (isxód) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Russian: разреше́ние (razrešénije) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Serbo-Croatian: rasplet — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Spanish: desenlace — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Swedish: upplösning — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Ukrainian: розв'язка (rozvʺjazka) — the conclusion or resolution of a plot
  • Welsh: diweddglo — the conclusion or resolution of a plot