¦ verb
1. settle or find a solution to.
Medicine cause (a symptom or condition) to heal or disappear.
2. decide firmly on a course of action.
(of a legislative body) take a decision by a formal vote.
3. Music cause (a discord) to pass into a concord during the course of harmonic change.
4. (resolve something into) reduce a subject or statement by mental analysis into (separate elements or a more elementary form).
chiefly Chemistry separate into constituent parts or components.
5. (of something seen at a distance) turn into a different form when seen more clearly.
(of optical or photographic equipment) separate or distinguish between (closely adjacent objects).
technical separately distinguish (peaks in a graph or spectrum).
6. Physics analyse (a force or velocity) into components acting in particular directions.
¦ noun
1. firm determination.
2. US a formal resolution by a legislative body or public meeting.
Derivatives
resolvability noun
resolvable adjective
resolved adjective
resolvedly adverb
resolver noun
Origin
ME (in the senses 'dissolve, disintegrate' and 'solve a problem'): from L. resolvere, from re- (expressing intensive force) + solvere 'loosen'.