The word is ÉNOUEMENT, from Maria Popova's The Marginalian, featuring John Koenig's The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
And it's a rather beautiful word.
Definition:
The bittersweetness of having arrived here in the future, finally learning the answers to how things turned out but being unable to tell your past self.
Pronunciation: ay-noo-MAHN
Example sentence:
“Looking back on the choices, uncertainties, and struggles that brought him to this point, he felt a profound sense of énouement: he finally knew how everything turned out, but could no longer share that knowledge with the younger version of himself who needed it most.
It's a particularly interesting concept because it captures something we rarely think about: the desire to send a message backward in time, not necessarily to change anything, but simply to reassure our former selves that things will work out.
One distinction worth knowing: énouement is an invented word, not an established dictionary entry. That's part of the appeal of Koenig's project.
Source: The Marginalian — The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
