Dénouement (Fr. dénouer, 'to untie'), a French term naturalised in England, applied generally to the termination or catastrophe of a play or romance; but, more strictly speaking, to the train of circumstances solving the plot, and hastening the catastrophe.
Dénouement
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 3: Catarrh to Dion, p. 760
Source scan(s): p. 0773