Main Entry: de·noue·ment

Variant(s): also dé·noue·ment \ˌdā-ˌnü-ˈmäⁿ, dā-ˈnü-ˌ\

Function: noun

Etymology: 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

Date: 1705

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