n.
Variant: also dé · noue · ment
Pronunciation: ˌ d ā - ˌ nü- ' mä n , d ā - ' nü- 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