resolve

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See also: résolvé, résolve, resolvé, and resolvê

English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English resolven, from Old French resolver, a learned borrowing of Latin resolvō (“loosen, thaw, melt, resolve”), equivalent to re- +‎ solve. Piecewise doublet of re-solve.

Pronunciation

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  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈzɒlv/, /ɹiːˈzɒlv/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈzɑlv/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɒlv

Verb

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resolve (third-person singular simple present resolves, present participle resolving, simple past and past participle resolved)

  1. (transitive) To find a solution to (a problem).
  2. (transitive) To reduce to simple or intelligible notions; to make clear or certain; to unravel; to explain.
    to resolve a riddle
  3. (intransitive) To make a firm decision to do something. To become determined to reach a certain goal or take a certain action.
    I resolve to finish this work before I go home.
    • 1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or, A Flight to the Paradise of Fools‎[1], volume 2, Dublin: […] Dillon Chamberlaine, →OCLC, page 202:
      At length, one night, when the company by ſome accident broke up much ſooner than ordinary, ſo that the candles were not half burnt out, ſhe was not able to reſiſt the temptation, but reſolved to have them ſome way or other. Accordingly, as ſoon as the hurry was over, and the ſervants, as ſhe thought, all gone to ſleep, ſhe ſtole out of her bed, and went down ſtairs, naked to her ſhift as ſhe was, with a deſign to ſteal them […]
  4. (transitive) To determine or decide in purpose; to make ready in mind; to fix; to settle.
    He was resolved by an unexpected event.
  5. To come to an agreement or make peace; patch up relationship, settle differences, bury the hatchet.
    After two weeks of bickering, they finally resolved their differences.
  6. (transitive, intransitive, reflexive) To break down into constituent parts; to decompose; to disintegrate; to return to a simpler constitution or a primeval state.
  7. To cause to perceive or understand; to acquaint; to inform; to convince; to assure; to make certain.
  8. (music) To cause a chord to go from dissonance to consonance.
  9. (optics) To render visible or distinguishable the parts of something.
    • 2013 July-August, Fenella Saunders, “Tiny Lenses See the Big Picture”, in American Scientist:
      The single-imaging optic of the mammalian eye offers some distinct visual advantages. Such lenses can take in photons from a wide range of angles, increasing light sensitivity. They also have high spatial resolution, resolving incoming images in minute detail.
  10. (computing) To find the IP address of a hostname, or the entity referred to by a symbol in source code; to look up.
  11. (rare, transitive) To melt; to dissolve; to liquefy or soften (a solid).
    • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, (please specify the page):
      With milke-white Hartes vpon an Iuorie ſled, / Thou ſhalt be drawen amidſt the froſen Pooles, / And ſcale the yſie mountaines lofty tops: / Which with thy beautie will be soone reſolu’d.
  12. (rare, intransitive, reflexive) To melt; to dissolve; to become liquid.
    • 1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC:
      When the blood stagnates in any part, it first coagulates, then resolves, and turns alkaline.
  13. (obsolete, transitive) To liquefy (a gas or vapour).
  14. (medicine, dated) To disperse or scatter; to discuss, as an inflammation or a tumour.
  15. (obsolete) To relax; to lie at ease.
    • 1641, Ben Jonson, Discoveries Made upon Men and Matter‎[2]:
      resolve himself into all sports and looseness again
  16. (chemistry) To separate racemic compounds into their enantiomers.
  17. (mathematics, archaic, transitive) To solve (an equation, etc.).
Derived terms
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Translations
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References
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Noun

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resolve (countable and uncountable, plural resolves)

  1. (uncountable) Determination; will power.
    It took all my resolve to go through with the surgery.
    • 2019 May 12, Alex McLevy, “Westeros faces a disastrous final battle on the penultimate Game of Thrones (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎[3], archived from the original on 15 May 2019:
      Stripped of all bravado, Cersei breaks, and shows the very scared, vulnerable woman who has kept her emotions at bay. “I don’t want to die,” she whimpers, “Not like this.” It’s all the more moving for coming from a character who built her identity on steely resolve and contempt for such hoary conceits as fear.
    • 2011 October 1, Saj Chowdhury, “Wolverhampton 1 - 2 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport‎[4]:
      Alan Pardew's current squad has been put together with a relatively low budget but the resolve and unity within the team is priceless.
    • 2018, Jhariah Clare (lyrics and music), “Sunsets (Resilience)”, in The Great Tale of How I Ruined it All:
      I wish for unending resolve, to always get up when I fall.
  2. (countable) A determination to do something; a fixed decision.
    • 1995, William Arctander O'Brien, Novalis, Signs of Revolution, page 56:
      His resolve to die is weakening as he grows accustomed to Sophie's absence, and all his attempts to master irresolution only augment it.
  3. (countable) An act of resolving something; resolution.
    • 2008, Matt Lombard, SolidWorks 2007 Bible, page 956:
      Some operations require data that, in turn, requires that lightweight components be resolved. In these cases, this option determines whether the user is prompted to approve the resolve or whether components are just resolved automatically.
Synonyms
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Translations
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See also
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Etymology 2

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Verb

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resolve (third-person singular simple present resolves, present participle resolving, simple past and past participle resolved)

  1. Alternative spelling of re-solve

Anagrams

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Italian

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Verb

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resolve

  1. third-person singular present indicative of resolvere

Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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resolve

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of resolvō

Middle English

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Verb

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resolve

  1. Alternative form of resolven

Portuguese

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Verb

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resolve

  1. inflection of resolver:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative
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