resolute

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin resolūtus (“loosened, slack, unrestrained”),^[2][3][4][5] the past participle of resolvō (“to loosen, untie, relax”),^[2][3][4][6] which is formed from re- (“back”) and solvō (“to loosen”), the source of resolve and solve.^[6][7] In post-classical Latin the participle also meant "(of rent) paid", "dissolved, softened" (1363, in Chauliac) and "steadfast" (1461, in a British source).^[2] The OED compares Middle French resolu (now résolu), recorded for a determined person from the 1460s, Spanish resoluto and Italian risoluto.^[2] Johnson derived it from French.^[8] The noun is from the adjective, and the American verb "to pass a resolution" is a back-formation from resolution.^[2][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dissolved, softened: before 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie,^[2][5] early 15th century in Etymonline.^[3] The Oxford Dictionary of English gives the first sense as "paid", of a rent.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The early, literal senses followed the Latin: dissolved, loose in texture (1440), and figuratively morally lax, dissolute (before 1475), all soon obsolete.^[2][3][5] From 1501 a decision or answer could be resolute, that is settled, final, absolute; the phrase resolute answer was common in the 16th century.^[2][3] Etymonline explains this from the idea of breaking something into its parts to reach its truth and so a final determination, as in resolution.^[3] Barnhart sees the sense "firmly determined" developing from this one;^[5] it is recorded of persons from 1522, in Scottish parliamentary records,^[2][9] and, without a following construction, "constant, steadfast", from 1579 in North's Plutarch.^[2] From 1534 a rent or payment could be resolute, paid, a use surviving only historically in rent resolute.^[2][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as "determined; fixed; constant; steady; firm", quoting Macbeth.^[8] In the dialects of Cumberland, Lincolnshire, Somerset and Devon it meant obstinate or restive, especially of a child or a horse, and in Hampshire strong and active.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1425 – dissolved, softened (now obsolete).^[2][5]
• before 1475 – morally lax, dissolute (now obsolete).^[2][5]
• 1501 – of a decision or answer, settled, final, absolute.^[2][5]
• 1522 – of a person, having resolved or determined to do something.^[2][9]
• 1534 – of a rent, paid.^[2]
• 1548 – noun, a payment (obsolete by 1610).^[2][9]
• c. 1560 – of an action or feeling, marked by firmness of purpose.^[2]
• 1578 – noun, a resolute person.^[2]
• 1579 – determined, steadfast.^[2]
• 1849 – verb, in the United States, to pass a resolution.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Firm in purpose or belief; determined and unwavering: She remained resolute in the face of criticism.^[13][4][9]
2. Showing determination or firmness: a resolute refusal.^[13][2]
3. (obsolete) Of a rent or payment, paid.^[9][2][10]

Noun

1. (rare) A resolute or daring person.^[9][2]

Verb

1. (United States) To draw up or pass a resolution.^[9][2]

Word family

• resolutely
• resoluteness
• overresolute
• unresolute

Related words

• resolve
• resolution
• solve
• dissolute
• absolute
• irresolute

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins