risolvere Italian · revision 38052

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1340, Palladio volgarizzato|origins=la luō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /riˈzɔl.ve.re/, /riˈsɔl.ve.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''risolvere''' (first-person singular present risòlvo, first-person singular past historic risòlsi, past participle risòlto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old form is [[roa-oit|resolvere]], with [[roa-oit|resolvare]] and [[roa-oit|rissolvere]].^(GDLI|16, 831)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Beside the usual past participle ''risolto'', ''risoluto'' survives mainly as an adjective, “resolute”.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|resolvō|alt=resolvere|t=to loosen, dissolve; to unravel, explain]], made of [[m|la|re-]] and [[m|la|solvō|t=to loosen, release]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(GDLI|16, 831) Wiktionary allows that it may be a semi-learned borrowing.^(Wiktionary) Devoto explains that the prefix, through its sense of repetition, came to mean that the loosening was final and conclusive.^(Devoto 1968|375) The same Latin verb gave [[fr|résoudre]], [[es|resolver]] and [[pt|resolver]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(Körting 1907)

+

+ Latin [[m|la|solvō]] is itself a compound of a prefix [[m|la|sē-|t=apart, away]] and [[m|la|luō|t=to loosen]], from [[ine-pro|*lewh₃-|alt=*leuH-]].^(de Vaan 2008) From the Latin past participle [[m|la|resolūtus]] Italian has [[risoluto]], which became an adjective with its own sense beside the ordinary participle [[risolto]], as [[assoluto]] stands beside [[assolto]].^(DELI 1999) [[risoluzione|alt=Risoluzione]] is Late Latin [[m|la-lat|resolūtiō]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is the Italian translation of Palladius's treatise on agriculture, about 1340, in the physical sense “to dissolve in a liquid”;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GRADIT dates the verb about 1340 in the sense “to break down into its parts, dissolve”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Medieval texts use it for the sun turning moisture into vapour, as the ''Composizione del mondo'' of Restoro d'Arezzo has the heat of the sun “resolve” the moisture of the earth.^(GDLI|16, 831) Before 1336 Cenne da la Chitarra already used the intransitive verb for sweating.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante's Purgatorio uses ''resolvere'' for washing away the scum of a guilty conscience.^(Treccani 2011) By the end of the 15th century the verb meant dissolving a tension or untying a difficulty (Filenio Gallo, before 1503), and Giovanni Pontano, also before 1503, used the pronominal ''risolversi'' for making up one's mind after hesitation.^(DELI 1999) Pietro Andrea Mattioli used it in medicine (1550–1568) for helping an illness to clear, and Galileo for breaking a thing into parts.^(DELI 1999) In Boccaccio a potion promises to “resolve everything” in three mornings, and Giovanni Villani says that a pope's whole body was dissolved by a flux.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The political sense “to resolve, decide by vote” appears in 1798 in a list of new words in the ''Monitore cisalpino'': DELI ties it to French ''résolution'', one of the key words of the Revolution.^(DELI 1999) The phrases ''risolvere un problema'' “to find the solutions of a problem” and ''risolvere un contratto'' “to cancel a contract with retroactive effect” are recorded in Palazzi's dictionary of 1939–1940.^(DELI 1999) In music a dissonant chord ''risolve'' when it moves to a consonance.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Before 1336 – Cenne da la Chitarra uses the intransitive verb for sweating.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1340 – The Italian Palladius uses ''risolvere'' “to dissolve”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * c. 1350 – ''Risoluzione'' appears in the Italian Crescenzi.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1503 – Filenio Gallo uses it for untying a difficulty, and Pontano uses ''risolversi'' “to make up one's mind”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1506 – ''Risoluto'' “resolute” is recorded in Vincenzo Querini and Machiavelli.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1642 – Galileo uses it for breaking a thing into its parts.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1798 – The sense “to decide formally” is listed among new words in the ''Monitore cisalpino''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1939–1940 – Palazzi records ''risolvere un problema'' and ''risolvere un contratto''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|settle]] or clear up a doubt, dispute or tangled question: ''Gli avvocati hanno risolto la lite in pochi giorni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To [[m|en|solve]], find the answer to a riddle, puzzle or equation: ''Nessuno in classe riuscì a risolvere l'esercizio.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To deal with a practical problem, sort it out: ''Con qualche telefonata ha risolto tutto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # To decide, especially officially: ''Il consiglio risolse di rinviare la seduta.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(chemistry, uncommon)'' To break down into its elements; to dissolve.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(law)'' To [[m|en|rescind]] a contract.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(music, intransitive)'' Of a dissonant note or chord, to [[m|en|resolve]] into a consonant one.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(medicine)'' To bring an illness to its cure.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(risolversi)'' To make up one's mind: ''Alla fine si risolse a chiedere aiuto.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(risolversi)'' To turn out, end up: ''La faccenda si è risolta in niente.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[risolto]]

+ * [[risoluto]]

+ * [[risoluzione]]

+ * [[risolutivo]]

+ * [[risolutore]]

+ * [[risolutezza]]

+ * [[risolvibile]]

+ * [[risolubile]]

+ * [[irrisolto]]

+ * [[irresoluto]]

+ * [[irresolubile]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[risolutorio]]

+ * [[risolvimento]]

+ * [[assolvere]]

+ * [[dissolvere]]

+ * [[sciogliere]]

+ * [[la|resolvo]]

+ * [[fr|résoudre]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The past historic has three forms, ''risolsi'' (the most common), ''risolvei'' and ''risolvetti''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In slang the verb can also mean to buy drugs.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}