resolution1
(rɛzəˈl(j)uːʃən)
Also 4–6 -cioun, 5–7 -cion, 5–6 -cyon.
[a. OF. resolucion, -tion (14th c.; mod.F. résolution, = Sp. resolucion, It. re-, risoluzione), or ad. L. resolūtiōn-em, n. of action f. resolvĕre to resolve.]
I. † 1. a. = dissolution 8. Obs. rare.
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Tim. iv. 6 The tyme of my resolucioun [L. resolutionis], or deeth, is nyȝ. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xi. 57. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) 2 Tim. iv. 6 The time of my resolution is at hand. |
† b. A state of dissolution or decay.
Obs.—1| 1533 Bellenden Livy ii. xiv. (S.T.S.) I. 184 Þe membris..brocht baith þame self and all þe body to extreme resolucioun [L. tabem]. |
2. a. The process by which a material thing is reduced or separated into its component parts or elements; a result of this. Also
attrib.| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy iv. xxxv, The flawme..queynt, that they ne myght se Nought but smoky resolucions. 1513 Bradshaw St. Werburge i. 3327 Our sauiour..preserued her body..Both hole and sounde from naturall resolucion. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 239 It dooth preserue the same from resolution & putrefaction. 1626 Bacon Sylva §400 The Immediate Cause of Death, is the Resolution or Extinguishment of the Spirits. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. iii. vi. (1677) 278 The Resolution or Maceration of Frogs and Worms will reproduce Individuals of the same species. 1707 Curios. in Husb. & Gard. 230 By their Resolution, or the true Anatomy I made of them, I found them to be compos'd of much Sulphur, a little Mercury, and less Salt. 1794 Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 297 The decomposition or resolution of phlogistic substances..is now well understood. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 12 The high temperature in the stomach produces a concretive resolution. 1881 Nature XXIV. 397/2 A simpler or fundamental group being the resolution product. |
| transf. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Race, All our experience is of the gradation and resolution of races. |
b. Const.
to,
into. Also, conversion
into something else, or
into a different form.
| 1519 Interl. Four Elem. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 12 Corruption of a body..Is but the resolution..Of every element to his own place. 1659 Hammond On Ps. xc. 3 The resolution of the body to dust, may be fitly exprest. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 51 Their resolution into the supposed elements of the chemists of those days. 1867 H. Macmillan Bible Teach. vii. (1870) 134 Instances of the resolution of the stem into a rolled and compressed leaf may be seen in grasses and bulbous plants. |
c. Orig., the effect of an optical instrument in making the separate parts of an object (
esp. the stars of a nebula) distinguishable by the eye. Now more widely, the act, process, or capability of rendering distinguishable the component parts of an object or closely adjacent optical or photographic images, or of separating measurements of similar magnitude of any quantity in space or time; also, the smallest quantity which is measurable by such a process.
| 1860 Olmsted's Mech. Heavens 396 The resolution of this nebula. 1867 J. Hogg Microsc. i. ii. 72 Resolution, or the power of showing clearly minute details. 1868 Lockyer Guillemin's Heavens (ed. 3) 396 Each new triumph of optical skill results in a resolution of some nebulæ, before irreducible. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 776 A resolving power of 100,000 would suffice for the resolution of the closest lines in the spectrum. 1931 Proc. R. Soc. A. CXXXII. 307 The ‘resolution’ (i.e., the smallest interval of time by which two impulses could be separated and still be separately recorded) of the relay ring..was between 1/100th and 1/200th second. 1935 Nature 12 Oct. 592/2 The remarks on numerical aperture may give rise to confusion, as the term ‘definition’ is used, instead of the correct one, ‘resolution’. 1958 Engineering 28 Mar. 389/2 The accuracy and resolution of the equipment are both equal to one digit in the fourth significant place. 1962 Which? Mar. 70/1 We measured the resolution. This is the ability of the projector to reproduce fine detail. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 255/1 This provides 8-bit resolution for the input samples. 1971 J. Z. Young Introd. Study Man ii. 20 As they examine the world more and more minutely with instruments of ever higher resolution they come upon phenomena not previously described. 1972 Sci. Amer. July 19/3 A 1,000 kilohertz..sonar would provide a resolution of 30 centimeters on a target 200 meters away. 1973 Ibid. June 47/1 The time resolution of the shutter is about a nanosecond. 1978 Ibid. Mar. 144/2 (Advt.), A usable resolution of 0.001° C makes the HP 2804 an excellent choice for measuring minute temperature differences. 1978 Nature 18 May p. xviii/1 By means of a selector key the weighing range of 200 g, resolution to 0·01 g, or of 2 kg, resolution to 0·1 g, can be selected. |
3. Med. † a. Dissolution or dispersion of humours or of morbid matter in the body.
Obs.| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. lxxxvii. (Bodl. MS.), In somer [though] þere be grette resolucion of humours þer is grete wastinge þereof. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 353 It wole make þe mater mollificatif, & make þe poris open to resolucioun. 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. ii. 65 It causeth the humours to breath out wyth gentyll resolution, and sedation of payne. 1620 Venner Via Recta viii. 190 Through paruity of exercise, and resolution of superfluous matter by the pores many crude..humours are bred. 1778 R. James' Diss. Fevers (ed. 8) 7 To bring about a concretion or resolution of the humours which excited the fever. |
† b. Conversion into purulent matter.
Obs.| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 17 b/1 The suppuratione, or resolution to matter, beinge finished. 1676 Wiseman Surg. Treat., If..the Strumæ [be] recent and but moderately hard, the Resolution or Suppuration of them is seizable. |
c. Disappearance of inflammation without coming to suppuration.
| 1783 W. Cullen First Lines §249 Wks. 1827 II. 8 If an inflammation be cured while the state and texture of the part remain entire, the disease is said to be terminated by Resolution. 1833 Cycl. Pract. Med. II. 790/2 Resolution is not only the most favourable, but the most common termination of inflammation. 1853 Markham tr. Skoda's Auscult. 286 When resolution of the inflammation commences,..the bronchial respiration returns. |
† 4. Conversion to a liquid state.
Obs.| 1644 Digby Treat. Bodies i. x. 77 In the hoat springes of extreme cold countries, where the first heates are vnsufferable, which proceede out of the resolution of humidity congealed. 1686 Goad Celest. Bodies ii. ii. 174 It must be caused by the resolution of the Snow which was dissolved the Week before. |
5. Relaxation or weakening of some organ or part of the body. Now
rare.
| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health cclxxi. 90 b, A palsey doth come..by resolucion or els compression of the nervous or sinewes. 1558 Bp. Watson Sev. Sacram. xvi. c, What resolution, and as it were a meltinge of his bodie and bowelles. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 49 Those that haue the palsie or resolution of the nerues. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min., Isagoge, Fear..causeth loosenesse, resolution of the muscles, and sometimes death with a small pulse. 1708 Brit. Apollo No. 45. 2/1 A Resolution of the Nerves may ensue, and this faltring of the Tongue be..caused. 1779 Johnson Let. to H. Thrale 23 June, Weariness is itself a temporary resolution of the nerves. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 618 Owing to the complete muscular ‘resolution’ the cheeks will be flaccid. |
II. 6. a. The process of resolving or reducing a non-material thing into simpler forms, or of converting it into some other thing or form.
With
quots. 1662 and 1677 compare 1656 in b.
| 1388 Prol. Wyclif Bible xv. (1850) 57 In translating into English, manie resolucions moun make the sentence open. Ibid., I Englishe it thus bi resolucioun. 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. prop. 1. 9 The first principles and grounds, which are indemonstrable, and for theyr simplicity can suffer no farther resolution. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. iii. §3 The infallible veracity of God in the Scriptures, as the last resolution of faith. 1677 J. Owen Reason of Faith Wks. 1852 IV. 114 Those of the Roman church who are the most averse from that resolution of faith which most Protestants acquiesce in. 1786 H. Tooke Purley (1829) I. 96 Though your method of resolution will answer with most sentences, yet I doubt much whether it will with all. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 193/2 Of the Composition and Resolutions of our Ideas, and the Rules of Definition thence arising. 1845 Proc. Philol. Soc. II. 167 This form furnishes a complete and intelligible resolution of the phrase. 1893 Chase in Archiv Stud. neu. Sprache C. 252 Resolution of contractions is denoted by italics. |
b. Const.
into or
† in.
| 1530 Palsgr. 79 The pronownes derivatyves have thre accidentes,..by whiche their gendre and nombre is expressed, and resolucyon in to their primityves. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., Black or halfe black ligatures,..with the resolution of the same in other common notes. 1656 Bramhall Replic. vii. 44 What that Catholick Church is, into the authority whereof they make the last resolution of their Faith. 1660 R. Coke Justice Vind. Pref. 12 This sensless resolution of all things into Reason. 1706 W. Jones Syn. Palmar. Matheseos 51 The Resolution of Powers into their Roots is called Evolution or the Analysis of Powers. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sci. (1857) I. 140 The Resolution of the apparent motions of the heavenly bodies into an assemblage of circular motions. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 14 The resolution of justice into two unconnected precepts. |
c. In prosody, the substitution of two short syllables in the place of a long one.
| 1884 Hadley & Allen Grk. Gram. §1080 A tribrach stands by resolution in place of the first trochee. |
7. † a. Math. and
Logic. (See
quots. and
analysis 7, 8.)
Obs.| 1557 Recorde Whetst. Cc. ij, Proue theim bothe by resolution: and then shall you knowe, the reason of their agremente. 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. prop. 1. 9 A demonstration a posteriori, or resolution is, when contrariwise in reasoning, we passe from the last conclusion made by the premisses..til we come to the first principles and grounds. Ibid. xiii. prop. 5. 396 Resolution, is the assumption or taking of the thing which is to be proued, as graunted, and by thinges which necessarily follow it, to passe vnto some truth graunted. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Resolution (in Mathematicks) is a Method of Invention, whereby the Truth or Falshood of a Proposition..is discover'd, in an Order contrary to that of Synthesis, or Composition. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The business of resolution is, to..examine the truth or falshood of a proposition, by ascending from some particular known truth,..by a chain of consequences, to another more general one in question. |
b. Logic. (See
quot.)
| 1855 Abp. Thomson Laws Th. §71 (1860) 118 Resolution, where the marks of the definitum are made its definition: as in ‘a pension is an allowance for past services’. |
8. Mus. † a. (See
quots.)
Obs. rare.
| 1727–38 Chambers Cycl., Resolution, in music, is when a canon or perpetual fugue is not written all on the same line, or in one part; but all the voices that are to follow the guida, or first voice, are written separately. 1811 Busby Dict. Mus. (ed. 3) s.v., Formerly also, a Canon was said to be resolved, or written in Resolution, when instead of being comprised in a single stave, all the parts were given on separate staves. |
b. The process by which a discord is made to pass into a concord.
| 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Discord, These discords..must be succeeded by concords: which is commonly called the resolution of the discord. 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy iv. vi, The preparation and resolution of the discord into harmony. 1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 50/1 Sometimes the resolution is brought about by the base, as in the instance of the discord of the 2nd. 1889 Prout Harmony ix. §198 The interval of a seventh is always a dissonance, and therefore requires resolution—that is, to be followed by a consonance. |
9. Mech. (See
quots. 1798 and 1830.)
| 1785 T. Parkinson Syst. Mech. iv. 78 (heading) Composition and resolution of forces. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1807) II. 137 The Resolution of Forces is the finding of two or more forces which, acting in any different directions, shall have the same effect as any given single force. 1830 Kater & Lardner Mech. v. 52 It is frequently expedient to substitute for a single force two or more forces, to which it is mechanically equivalent, or of which it is the resultant. This process is called ‘the resolution of force’. 1882 Minchin Unipl. Kinemat. 124 The equations..expressing the components of the given strain with reference to a new set of axes..constitute the resolution of strain. |
| fig. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxii. 292 Legree..governed his plantation by a sort of resolution of forces. |
III. 10. a. The answering
of a question; the solving
of a doubt or difficulty.
† Also, the supplying
of an answer. Now
rare. (Freq. in 17th c.)
| 1548 Geste Pr. Masse 103, I wyl addresse me to the ful answere and resolution of the same. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccles. Hist. v. xii. (1619) 85 Rhodion promised also to publish the resolutions of his Problemes. His Commentaries upon the six daies works are at this day extant. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies ii. xi. 106 Whoso woulde neerely consider the causes..shall finde them insufficient for the full resolution of this point. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 275 In resolution of the question of universall Redemption. 1705 Stanhope Paraphr. I. 350 For a resolution of this enquiry, the case of Abraham will be of great use to us. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 24 ¶2 Of this question..we must be content to live without the resolution. 1845 Lewes Hist. Philos. iii. ii, The resolution of that problem..had left him unsatisfied. 1847 Miller First Impr. Eng. x. (1857) 164 Several antagonist theories have been promulgated in attempted resolution of the puzzle. |
b. The solution
of an arithmetical or mathematical problem. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1579–80 North Plutarch (1676) 20 [He] gathered it out by certain accidents, as they do in the resolutions of certain Geometrical questions. 1636 Mellis Recorde's Gr. Artes 160 For the resolution whereof, and of all such other like, reduce 23 pound 8 shillings, all into shillings. 1715 tr. Gregory's Astron. (1726) I. 317 Concerning the Resolution of the most considerable Problems of the First Motion by Calculation. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 431/2 Of the Resolution of Equations. 1817 H. T. Colebrooke Algebra 207 The resolution of these equations is so named, because it is in general effected by making the middle term..disappear from between two square terms. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. I. 543/1 The resolution of this equation gives the solution of the proposed problem. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 517/1 A problem subservient to the resolution of indeterminate problems of the first degree. |
† c. Without
const. An answer or solution.
Obs. (Freq. in 17th c.)
| a 1542 Wyatt in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 50 It liketh me (quod she) to haue hard your question, But, lenger time doth ask a resolucion. 1581 G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 6 Your resolutions, doe me content so well, That I delight..to aske. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §9, I can answer all the objections..with that odde resolution I learned of Tertullian, certum est quia impossibile est. |
† d. In
phr. of..resolution, (hard or easy) to resolve.
Obs. rare.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. i. (1736) 11 How the Romans left so many Coins seems of hard Resolution. 1675 Baxter Cath. Theol. i. i. 110 A strange dispute, and of most easie resolution. |
11. a. A statement upon some matter; a decision or verdict on some point. Now
rare or
Obs.| 1581 Marbeck Bk. Notes 1055 The Lord hath giuen a generall resolution, that no man can enter into the kingdome of heauen, vnles [etc.]. 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. iv. 25 Which last resolution of his I follow at this present. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 143 He speaketh so confidently thereof, as I will not altogether discredit his resolution in this behalfe. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. i. (1686) 3 He hath reserved many things unto his own resolution. 1674 Essex Papers (Camden) I. 197 [He] promiseth to give his resolution about y⊇ petitioners before his departure. |
| 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) VI. 506 The established law in cases of this nature was according to the resolution in the Duke of Norfolk's case. |
b. A formal decision, determination, or expression of opinion, on the part of a deliberative assembly or other meeting; a proposal of this nature submitted to an assembly or meeting.
| 1604 Jrnls. Ho. Comm. 28 June, No Resolution or further Speech in it [a question] at that Time. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxii. 119 Present at all the Deliberations, and Resolutions of the Body. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1897) I. 98 When these resolutions were passed with this protestation, a great many..met, and formed an association apart. 1771 Junius Lett. xlviii. (1788) 264 Yet now you confess that parliaments are fallible, and that their resolutions may be illegal. 1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike iv. 41 To hold a meeting..in order to prepare resolutions to be laid before the masters. 1872 Freeman Eng. Const. iii. 155 The passing by the House of Commons of such a resolution as this. |
c. A solution or settlement
of a dispute.
| 1890 Spectator 15 Mar., The Italian Government, though it is strong, hardly hopes to see a resolution of its quarrel with the Papacy. |
† 12. An explanatory account
of something.
Obs.| 1582 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 536 [The safeconduct had been obtained, and directed to him] togidder with a resolution of the forme and tyme appointit for his departing. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. 19 We much deplore the loss of that Letter which Cicero expected or received from his Brother Quintus, as a resolution of Brittish customes. |
IV. † 13. a. The removal of doubt on some point from a person's mind.
Obs. rare.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens To Rdr., For thy instruction and resolution in these matters I referre the to the same Authors. 1635 E. Pagitt Christianogr. iii. (1636) 73 A German Monke adviseth him that doubteth of Purgatory, for his resolution to make his iourney into Scotland the greater. 1644 J. Cotton Keyes Kingd. Heaven iv. 18 The Church of Antioch sent messengers to Ierusalem for resolution and satisfaction in a doubt that troubled them. |
† b. Confidence; conviction, certainty, positive knowledge.
Obs. rare.
| 1590 Greene Never too Late Wks. (Grosart) VIII. 98, I haue such resolution in thy constancie, that [etc.]. 1605 Shakes. Lear i. ii. 108, I would vnstate my selfe, to be in a due resolution. a 1637 Holland (Webster), Little resolution and certainty there is as touching the islands of Mauritania. |
14. a. The (
or an) act of resolving or determining; anything resolved upon; a fixed determination.
| 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. (1599) 15 Trust me..I will sacke it, or on this Castle wall Ile write my resolution with my blood. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 55 Suddenly al the passengers resolued to leaue the ships..; at which resolution the Masters of the ships stormed. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §30 Mr. Pimm was looked upon as..not of those furious resolutions against the Church as the other leading men were. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 7 ¶24 He hopes they will come to a Resolution to send for no more Bulls to Rome. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 193 ¶3 To be praised then every man resolves; but resolutions will not execute themselves. 1817 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. iv. v. 202 The Nabob,..fully persuaded of the resolution of the Council to depose him [etc.]. 1874 Green Short Hist. ii. §8. 104 Neither warning nor desertion moved the resolution of the Primate. |
b. Const.
for,
of.
| 1633 Ford Broken Hrt. i. i, A resolution for a lasting league Betwixt your families, was entertained. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §42 A sincere resolution of amity and unity between the two nations. |
15. Determination; firmness or steadiness of purpose; unyielding temper.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 239 Thy griefes [are] their sports: Thy resolution mockt. 1592 ― Lucr. 352 My will is back'd with resolution. 1636 E. Dacres tr. Machiavel's Disc. Livy II. 329 On each part he makes the Armyes equall for their order, valour, resolution, and number. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 541 He comes, and settl'd in his face I see Sad resolution and secure. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Matt. iv. 10 A great temptation must be withstood with great resolution. 1754 Johnson in Boswell, He was..a coward, because he had not resolution to fire it off himself. 1819 Shelley Cenci i. iii. 173 Be thou the resolution of quick youth Within my veins. 1870 Dickens E. Drood vii, You seem to have resolution and power enough to crush me. |
† 16. A resolute person.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. i. §3 Those desperate Resolutions, who had rather venture at large their decayed bottome then bring her in to be new trim'd in the dock. |