resolution

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌrez.əˈluː.ʃən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English resolucioun,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French resolution (14th century),^[2][3] and directly from Latin resolutionem (“a reducing of things into simpler forms”),^[2][4] a noun of action from the past participle stem of resolvere “to loosen, release”,^[2][4] the source of resolve.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Dissolution, a breaking up into parts: 1382 in the OED,^[5] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In medicine it meant the dispersal of humours or morbid matter, from 1398,^[5] and later the subsiding of a disease, from 1777.^[6] From the reducing of something non-material into simpler forms came, as a way of solving problems, “a solving”, of mathematical problems from 1579,^[6] by the 1540s in Etymonline.^[2] In the mid-15th century it also meant a frame of mind, often a pious or moral determination,^[2] and determination, firmness of purpose, is from 1594 in the Historical Thesaurus,^[6] the 1580s in Etymonline.^[2] A formal decision of a deliberative assembly is from 1545,^[6] about 1600 in Etymonline.^[2] In music, the passing of a discord into a concord is from 1721.^[6] The power of an optical instrument to make separate parts distinguishable is from 1831,^[6] by 1860 in Etymonline,^[2] and the climax or denouement of a story from 1846.^[6] The New Year's resolution is from at least the 1780s, and through the 19th century such resolutions were usually pious.^[2]

Timeline

• 1382 – dissolution.^[5]
• 1398 – in medicine.^[5]
• mid-15th century – a frame of mind.^[2]
• 1545 – a formal decision of an assembly.^[6]
• 1579 – solving a problem.^[6]
• 1594 – firmness of purpose.^[6]
• 1721 – in music.^[6]
• 1780s – New Year's resolution.^[2]
• 1831 – optical resolution.^[6]
• 1846 – the resolution of a plot.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Firm determination; the quality of being resolute.
2. A decision to do something: a New Year's resolution.
3. A formal statement of a decision or opinion adopted by an assembly.
4. The act of solving or settling a problem or dispute; a solution.
5. The fineness of detail an optical instrument, screen or image can show.
6. (music) The passing of a discord into a concord.
7. The breaking up of something into its parts.

Word family

• high-resolution
• low-resolution
• irresolution
• continuing resolution

Related words

• irresoluble
• irresolute
• irresolvable
• resoluble
• resolvable
• resolvent
• resolve
• resolute
• solution
• dissolve
• absolve

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)