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单词 resolve
释义

resolven.

Brit. /rᵻˈzɒlv/, U.S. /rəˈzɔlv/, /riˈzɔlv/, /rəˈzɑlv/, /riˈzɑlv/
Forms: see resolve v.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: resolve v.
Etymology: < resolve v. Compare earlier resolution n.1, resolving n.
1.
a. The fact of having resolved upon a course of action, stance, etc.; a firm intention. Also in plural in same sense (now somewhat archaic).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > [noun] > (a) resolution or decision
resolutiona1475
decreetc1475
decision1490
shall?1553
deliberation1579
resolve1592
pitch1600
volition1615
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > [noun]
willOE
businessa1387
wilfulnessc1386
restc1400
point1477
appointmenta1535
firmitude?1541
resoluteness?1560
resolve1592
resolution1594
constancy1603
resolvance1603
resolvedness1611
intensiona1619
determinateness1652
decisiveness1714
determinedness1747
decision1770
decidedness1800
setness1818
determinativeness1821
determination1822
virtu1876
the courage of one's convictions or opinions1878
self-determination1890
adamancy1898
drivenness1902
adamance1925
1592 A. Munday tr. E. de Maisonneufve Gerileon of Englande: 2nd Pt. xxiii. sig. Bb2 v Desire of honor prouoked him rather to fight for her... In this resolue, he thus aduised the Queene to answer the Persian tyrant [Fr. Et de faict donna des lors aduis à la Royne de faire response au Tyran de Perse].
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. i. 123 Get you gone, be strong and prosperous In this resolue . View more context for this quotation
1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 350 A catholike resolue for our Romane faith.
1667 E. Waterhouse Short Narr. Fire London 135 The common affection of Countrymen soders them into a common resolve of kindness each to other.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Cymon & Iphigenia in Fables 560 Speak thy Resolves; if now thy Courage droop, Despair in Prison.
a1794 E. Gibbon Misc. Wks. (1814) I. 125 My private resolves were influenced by the state of Europe.
1806 R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) II. 177 The well-considered remonstrances of some of his nearest friends..put him by from his resolve.
1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. iii. 41 Mere stoicism, and resolves about fitting fortune to one's self.
1913 S. Shaw William of Germany viii. 151 The resolve that as Emperor he would not allow Germany to be overlooked..in the discussion or decision of international affairs.
1936 W. S. Churchill Marlborough III. xi. 235 An immense volume of English opinion supported the Queen in her resolves to have a national rather than a party Administration.
1967 D. Bushnell Eduardo Santos 7 The resolve of President Santos to work closely with the United States found prompt expression in the field of military cooperation.
2005 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 19 Aug. a20/1 What this spill will leave behind is a resolve to place new limits on concentrated animal feeding operations.
b. An act of resolving to do something; a resolution.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > [noun]
resolvinga1398
resolutiona1475
decision1490
determination1548
resolve1818
making-up1841
1818 T. Hudson Comic Songs 10 He made a resolve that himself he would kill, And some laudanum drank from a phial.
1852 E. G. Squier Nicaragua II. 92 I made a mental resolve..to appeal to my ‘Colt’, before admitting any too familiar approaches.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars ii. 78 She made up her mind never to marry again, and she kept her resolve.
1927 W. Cather Death comes for Archbishop i. iii. 38 I have made a resolve not to go more than three days' journey..for one year.
1990 W. Stewart Right Church Wrong Pew (1991) xvii. 131 By the time I had run down the winner..I had made a firm resolve never ever to miss a message on the machine again.
2. Firmness or steadfastness of purpose; determination; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iv. v. sig. Iv We must be stiffe and steddie in resolue.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. vii. 75 A Lady of so high resolue, (As is faire Margaret). View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Bonduca ii. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 55 The Captains at all points steel'd up; their preparations full of resolve, and confidence.
1759 S. Johnson Idler 10 Feb. 41 It was..necessary that this universal reluctance should be counteracted, and the drowsiness of hesitation wakened into resolve.
1813 P. B. Shelley Queen Mab iv. 53 Man is of soul and body, formed for deeds Of high resolve.
1866 H. P. Liddon Bampton Lect. iii That supply of light, of love, and of resolve, which enriches..the Christian soul.
1921 E. L. White Andivius Hedulio iii. xxii. 334 These blatherskites were on fire with high resolve, by their talk.
1969 W. S. Kuniczak Sempinski Affair (1970) vii. 69 I..felt my resolve melting like the Napoleon pastries on my plate.
2006 Athletics Weekly 14 Dec. 37/3 His rivals..were continually psyched out by a man whose mental resolve matched his immense physical skills.
†3. An answer; a solution. to give resolve to: to answer. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > [noun] > solution, explanation
soilingc1380
solutionc1384
invention1484
resolutiona1500
dissolution1549
way1574
resolvea1630
solving1706
solve1780
a1630 Faithful Friends (1975) ii. ii. 44 I craue but ten short daies to giue resolue To this important sute.
1643 J. Milton Doctr. Divorce 13 In hope to give a full resolv of that which is yet so much controverted.
1670 W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 25 If you consult what I say..you may find a sufficient resolve thereof.
4. A formal decision, determination, or expression of opinion made by or submitted to a deliberative assembly, meeting, etc.; = resolution n.1 15. Now chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > [noun] > (a) resolution or decision > formal or collective
resolution1545
resolve1649
executive decision1891
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > procedure of parliament or national assembly > [noun] > resolution
vote1641
resolve1649
1649 Moderate Intelligencer No. 226. 2162 The severall Embassadours held the last week two Sessions every day, their proceedings they keep secret, till it come to a resolve.
1657 T. Burton Diary (1828) II. 94 The several resolves of Parliament touching the matter.
1713 J. Addison Cato ii. i Cæsar's approach has summon'd us together, And Rome attends her fate from our resolves.
1775 B. Franklin Let. 15 May in E. Burke Corr. (1844) II. 28 I hear your proposed resolves were negatived by a great majority.
1794 S. Williams Nat. & Civil Hist. Vermont 296 That part of the resolves in which the state was threatened.
1843 N. Amer. Rev. Oct. 287 The legislature of Connecticut passed a resolve, that the Academy was ‘aristocratic and anti-republican’, and ought to be abolished.
1865 H. Phillips Amer. Paper Currency II. 55 These resolves were ordered to be published.
1935 W. S. Jenkins Pro-slavery Thought in Old South i. 36 A record of the resolves of Congress asserting American liberty which were at variance with the conduct of its members in continuing to hold others in slavery.
1984 Huntington Libr. Q. 47 249 The text of the broadside consists of two separate parts: a cover-letter at one end of the sheet, and a formal resolve at the other.
2000 Church Times 21 July 5/1 The Bishops need not have debated the eighth resolve, which sought to prepare rites for committed relationships other than marriage.
†5. Music. Apparently: a note with which a given note is perfectly consonant. Cf. resolution n.1 9b. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > diatonic scale series
octave1603
septenary1636
octachord1664
resolve1721
1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acct. Wks. Nature xiv. 160 The progressive Tones from that Ground-Note to the Octave, which is the Resolve of the Ground-Note, declares the Key.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

resolvev.

Brit. /rᵻˈzɒlv/, U.S. /rəˈzɔlv/, /riˈzɔlv/, /rəˈzɑlv/, /riˈzɑlv/
Forms: Middle English resolu, Middle English–1600s resolue, Middle English– resolve, 1500s resoulve, 1600s resollve, 1600s resolv; Scottish pre-1700 resol, pre-1700 resolf, pre-1700 resoll, pre-1700 resollve, pre-1700 resolue, pre-1700 resolwe, pre-1700 resoul, pre-1700 risolv, pre-1700 1700s– resolve, 1800s resoal (Shetland), 1900s– rezol (Shetland).
Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Perhaps also partly a borrowing from French. Etymons: Latin resolvere; French resolver.
Etymology: < classical Latin resolvere to loosen, undo, unfasten, to unravel, solve, to unbind, to release, to separate into components, break up, to reduce to liquid, melt, dissolve, to soften, reduce to pulp, to make less tense, relax, to weaken the nerves of, paralyse, to make less strict or disciplined, to pay back (money owed), to discharge (a promise or vow), to put an end to, finish, settle, to cancel, nullify, to refute, rebut, in post-classical Latin also to flow out, emerge (6th cent.; < re- re- prefix + solvere solve v.), perhaps partly via Middle French (rare) resolver to solve (a problem), to make a decision (both c1370), to cause (a substance) to melt or dissolve (c1380); compare (with change of conjugation) Middle French resolvir to dissolve, melt (1528). The usual French verb expressing the senses of the English verb is Middle French resoudre , resouldre , ressoudre (French résoudre ) (first quarter of the 13th cent. in Old French in past participle resous , originally in sense ‘(of a sum of money or damages) paid’; see below for a summary of its senses), a borrowing of classical Latin resolvere with alteration after Old French soldre , soudre soil v.2 Compare Catalan resoldre (1438), Spanish resolver (first half of the 14th cent.), Portuguese resolver (14th cent.), Italian risolvere (c1340; also †resolvere ). Compare solve v. and earlier dissolve v., which show partial semantic overlap with this word.Senses of French résoudre which have a parallel in English include the following: to cause to melt or dissolve (beginning of the 14th cent., originally in passive construction etre resoult ), to decide to follow a course of action (1356 in resoldre de ; also used reflexively (c1500)), to break up or separate (a material thing) into constituent parts or elements, to reduce (a subject, statement, phenomenon, etc.) by analysis into more elementary forms, principles, etc. (both c1377), to release (something) from its bonds (second half of the 15th cent.), to cause to disappear (1525), to come to a conclusion about, to make a decision concerning (an issue) (1535), to disperse or dissolve (humours, morbid material, etc.) (1549), to change or transform (a material or immaterial thing) into some other state or form (1559), to cause (a thing, especially a part of the body) to become slack or limp (second half of the 16th cent.), to solve (a problem) (1564; 1690 with specific reference to a mathematical problem, 1765 with specific reference to an equation), to be satisfied or convinced (1568 in the passage translated in quot. 1585 at sense 22c), to inform (a person) about (something) (1609), to annul (a law, contract, etc.) (1668), (in music) to alter or transform (a discord) into a concord (1753).
I. Senses relating to liquefaction, dissolution, or softening.
1. In later use only with into (cf. sense 8).
a. transitive. To cause to melt or dissolve; to reduce from a solid to a liquid or fluid state. Now rare.In quot. a1398: to soften by the application of heat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > make liquid [verb (transitive)]
resolvea1398
flow1413
distilc1470
flux1477
liquefy1547
cut1578
uncrud1598
illiquefact1599
resolve1604
infuse1607
egelidate1609
eliquate1621
liquidate1656
diffude1657
liquate1669
colliquate1680
solve1794
liquidize1837
fluidify1849
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 199 A stoon resolueþ [read resolued; L. resolutus] wiþ hete torneþ in to bras.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) iv. met. v. l. 3814 Þe weyȝte of þe snowe yhardid by þe colde is resolued [L. solvier] by þe brennynge hete of phebus þe sonne.
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) xii. 526 (MED) For brousty oil, whit wex is to resolue In fynest oil, and theryn throwe hit so.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 688/1 This metall can nat be resolved without a marvayllous sharpe fyre.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. i. f. 93v Cleopatra..resolued a pearle in vineger and drunke it.
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. 117 Euphrates was risen by reason of snow newly thawed and resolved.
1678 J. Dryden All for Love iii. 32 He could resolve his mind, as Fire does Wax, From that hard rugged Image, melt him down [etc.].
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet i. 270 Soaps which resolve solid Substances.
1735 T. Dallowe tr. H. Boerhaave Elements Chem. I. ii. 240 Let it [sc. the white of an egg] be exposed to 92 degrees of Heat..and it will in a little time be resolved into a Liquid, that grows continually thinner and thinner.
1834 P. M. Roget Animal & Veg. Physiol. I. 97 A soft and transparent jelly, which by spontaneous decomposition after death..is resolved almost wholly into a limpid watery fluid.
1905 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 656/2 There it [sc. ice] will remain..until the warm sun of spring shall resolve it into water again.
1998 D. Garber et al. in D. Garber & M. Ayers Cambr. Hist. 17th-Cent. Philos. (2003) I. xviii. 560 Solid combustibles.., like resins and waxes, must first be resolved into liquid.
†b. transitive. To condense (a vapour or mist) to a liquid. Also figurative. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > make dense or solid [verb (transitive)]
congealc1384
sadc1384
resolvea1398
thightc1440
condense1477
constipate1546
condensate1555
engross1561
indense1576
sadden1600
settle1611
densate1613
solidate1640
corporify1644
conspissate1647
consolidate1653
conglaciate1660
solidify1799
densify1820
the world > matter > liquid > moisture or humidity > render humid or expose to vapour [verb (transitive)] > condense moisture
resolvea1398
condense1662
devaporate1787
precipitate1863
the mind > will > decision > constancy or steadfastness > adhere constantly or steadfastly to [verb (transitive)] > make steadfast
strongOE
strengthc1200
stablea1300
resolvea1398
sadc1400
nourish?a1425
settle1435
pitha1500
stiffen?a1500
steel1581
toughen1582
ballastc1600
efforta1661
fix1671
balance1685
to fix the mercury1704
instrengthen1855
to put stuffing into1977
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 199v Myst..soone þer after..is resolued in to reyn dropes.
c1450 (c1415) in W. O. Ross Middle Eng. Serm. (1940) 247 (MED) Som tyme he resolueþ by very contricion þe thike cloudes of synne in-to swete dewy teres.
1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi v. §2. 144 Green clouds..are altogether watery, and as it were already resolved into water.
1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) i. xxvii. 65 The sooty Vapors are condensed, and being resolved into water, are [etc.].
1878 Sanitary Rec. 4 Jan. 9/1 Another physicist..has attacked oxygen, and, with the aid of great pressure and cold, has resolved it into a liquid.
1892 T. S. Hunt Systematic Mineral. (ed. 2) iii. 18 The vapor of water above 100°..behaves like a true gas, but below that point is resolved into a liquid.
c. intransitive. To melt; to dissolve; to become liquid. Also figurative. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > become liquid [verb (intransitive)]
flowc825
uncrud1398
uncurd1398
relentc1405
resolvec1450
liquefy1583
colliquate1646
flux1669
liquatea1728
liquesce1831
liquidize1969
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 443 Þis yse resoluyd into watir.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 72 In þis tyme..þe wyndes blowyn, þe snow resoluys.
c1540 J. Bellenden in tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. sig. Bvv Ony frosyn thyng (that is cassyn in it) meltis and resoluis hastelie.
1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. sig. H2 May my braine Resolue to water, and my bloud turne phlegme. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) v. iv. 25 Euen as a forme of waxe Resolueth from his figure 'gainst the fire. View more context for this quotation
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 106 After a while it resolves again, and grows dilute.
1696 T. Southerne Oroonoko v. v Our honours, interests resolving down, Run in the gentle current of our joys.
1731 J. Arbuthnot Ess. Nature Aliments iv. 46 When the Blood stagnates in any part of the Body, it first coagulates, then resolves, turns Alkaline.
1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 19 Congealed (as it were) in Clusters, which resolve, and the frozen Swallows revive by the Warmth.
1791 W. Nicholson tr. J. A. C. Chaptal Elements Chem. III. vi. ix. 365 White flocks are deposited on the sides of the glass, which resolve into a liquor by the contact of moist air.
1848 A. Normandy tr. H. Rose Pract. Treat. Chem. Anal. i. ii. ii. 450 The compounds..all absorb moisture from the air, and resolve into a yellow liquid.
1912 A. Teixeira de Mattos tr. J. H. Fabre Life of Spider vii. 187 When ripe, the fleshy core resolves into a liquid in which float the seeds.
d. transitive (reflexive). = sense 1c. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > making or becoming liquid > make liquid [verb (transitive)]
resolvea1398
flow1413
distilc1470
flux1477
liquefy1547
cut1578
uncrud1598
illiquefact1599
resolve1604
infuse1607
egelidate1609
eliquate1621
liquidate1656
diffude1657
liquate1669
colliquate1680
solve1794
liquidize1837
fluidify1849
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. ii. 130 O that this too too sallid flesh would melt, Thaw and resolue it selfe into a dewe. View more context for this quotation
1800 R. Southey Cool Reflections in Ann. Anthol. II. 31 For the flesh upon them That hath resolved itself into a dew.
1808 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Dec. 267 A white salt, which on exposure to the air speedily resolved itself into a fluid.
1868 Sir J. Herschel in People's Mag. Jan. 63 Its pileus..has the singular property of resolving itself..into a black liquid.
1954 A. Moorehead Summer Night iii. 61 Inside the press the grapes were bursting under their own weight, resolving themselves into a dark liquid pulp.
†2. transitive. To soften (literal and figurative); to cause to become slack or limp; to weaken. Also (occasionally) intransitive with object implied. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > cause to be ill [verb (transitive)] > make weak
fellOE
wastec1230
faintc1386
endull1395
resolvea1398
afaintc1400
defeat?c1400
dissolvec1400
weakc1400
craze1476
feeblish1477
debilite1483
overfeeble1495
plucka1529
to bring low1530
debilitate1541
acraze1549
decaya1554
infirma1555
weaken1569
effeeble1571
enervate1572
enfeeble1576
slay1578
to pull downa1586
prosternate1593
shake1594
to lay along1598
unsinew1598
languefy1607
enerve1613
pulla1616
dispirit1647
imbecilitate1647
unstring1700
to run down1733
sap1755
reduce1767
prostrate1780
shatter1785
undermine1812
imbecile1829
disinvigorate1844
devitalize1849
wreck1850
atrophy1865
crumple1892
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > types of softness > [verb (transitive)] > make slack or not tense
resolvea1398
remit?1518
slacken1611
unstretch1611
unstrain1616
ease1627
relieve1814
untighten1836
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > make less violent or severe [verb (transitive)] > weaken (something immaterial)
to thin off, downc900
feeblea1340
allayc1450
debilite1483
mollify1496
weak1502
geld?1507
water1529
appale?1530
labefact?1539
debilitate1541
mortify1553
effeeble1571
dilutea1575
soften1576
unsinew1599
melt1600
infringe1604
weaken1609
unbenda1616
dissinew1640
slacken1663
thin1670
resolve1715
imbecilitate1809
imbecile1829
to let down1832
to water down1832
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. x. vii. 563 By his scharpnesse cool sowdiþ iren and resoluyth and slakeþ þe parties þerof and makeþ it neissche.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 24 (MED) When..þe ende is of þe state, be þer noȝt but þat resolueþ & makeþ laxe.
c1451 J. Capgrave Life St. Gilbert (1910) 100 (MED) Þe grete constriccion of hir wombe was resolued meruelously.
1484 W. Caxton tr. Subtyl Historyes & Fables Esope f. iij By cause the water was hote and their stomake [was] resolued by the water.
1541 T. Elyot Image of Gouernance x. f. 18v Like as by the other the strength of body is resolued.
1577 H. Rhodes Bk. Nurture (new ed.) sig. Eiii It is a very hard work of continence, to repell the paynting glose of flatterings whose words resolue the hart with plesure.
1588 T. Kyd tr. T. Tasso Housholders Philos. f. 6v The night..[in which] we may sufficiently restore our bodies resolued with exceeding heate and contagions of the day.
1644 J. Bulwer Chirologia 35 The Hand collected, the Fingers looking downewards, then turned and resolved.
1715 N. Rowe Lady Jane Gray ii Every moving accent that she breathes Resolves my courage, slackens my tough nerves.
3. Medicine.
†a. transitive. To disperse or dissolve (humours, morbid material, etc.); to soften (an accumulation of hardened material). Also intransitive: to perform or undergo such a process. Obsolete.In later use there is some overlap with sense 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (transitive)] > disperse, etc., humours or morbid matter
cleansec1000
resolvea1398
slaya1400
dissolvec1400
evacuec1400
mundify?a1425
repel?a1425
attenuate1533
evacuate1533
discuss?1537
divert?1541
extenuate1541
intercide?1541
educe1574
scour1577
attray1579
clenge1582
divertise1597
derive1598
revel1598
display1607
draw1608
incide1612
correct1620
fuse1705
lavage1961
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xviii. lxxxvii. 1238 In wynter humours ben sadde yfastned togidres by colde... And þerfore fewe fumositees ben resolued in þat tyme for passyng colde þat fastneþ þe humours in þe body.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 210 (MED) If þou miȝt not..do awei þe enpostym ne resolue him..þan þou schalt do þerto medicyns maturatiuis.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 353 (MED) Þan oonli wiþ resolutiuis..þe sotil mater wole resolue, & þat oþir part wole bicome hard.
?a1425 MS Hunterian 95 f. 105v (MED) Ane harde enpostume is cured wiþ resolutiues & mollificatiues, so þat o tyme þu schalt resolue & anoþer tyme mollifie.
a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 23 (MED) If þe mater..is gret..resolu it with a light resolutiue.
?1541 R. Copland Galen's Fourth Bk. Terapeutyke sig. Hiv, in Guy de Chauliac's Questyonary Cyrurgyens When ecchymosis is all dygested & resolued, than it is parmytted to drye the broken flesshe.
1562 W. Turner Herball (1568) ii. 117 Oyl that is made of vnrype oliues..doth myghtely resolue.
1585 J. Banister Wecker's Compend. Chyrurg. i. 242 If the tumor doe by these meanes resolue and vanish, pursue it with a cataplasme.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 274 Those plasters which resolue or maturat any impostumed place.
1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. clxxiii. 483 It burneth, draweth, and resolueth, and is goode for scurfe.
1683 W. Salmon Doron Medicum ii. 427 For it resolves all hard humors.
1708 Brit. Apollo 29–31 Dec. Green Tea..Resolves, and Attenuates.
1717 D. Turner Syphilis ii. 208 The inguinal Tumour entirely resolving, and the Pustules every where dying away and falling off.
1749 D. Hartley Observ. Man i. ii. §i. 127 Embrocations are of Use in resolving Obstructions.
1800 W. C. Brown tr. G. Borsieri de Kanifeld Inst. Pract. Med. I. 296 Friction during the paroxysm..contributed much to resolve the remains of the swelling.
†b. transitive. To relieve or reduce (a condition, esp. pain or numbness). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > anaesthetization, pain-killing, etc. > practise anaesthetization, pain-killing, etc. [verb (transitive)] > allay pain
lissea1000
softc1225
appeasec1374
releasea1393
stancha1398
mortifya1400
unpain1540
resolve1573
1573 Treas. Hid. Secrets xix Oyle of Rue is hot, resolving pain.
a1617 P. Baynes Comm. Ephes. (1658) 130 Fire..hath not onely heat resolving numbnesse,..but it hath light.
1638 W. Rawley tr. F. Bacon Hist. Nat. & Exper. Life & Death 29 The Drying caused by Cold, is but weak, and easily resolved.
1651 D. Border Πολυϕαρμακος και Χυμιστης 135 It helpeth digestion and resolveth pain throughout the body, in what part soever they shall come, especially, when they have their beginning of cold.
c. transitive. To bring (a disease, pathological process, etc.) to resolution (resolution n.1 2c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (transitive)] > remove by resolution
resolve1730
1730 Dr. Allen's Synopsis Medicinæ II. xii. 88 Aq. calcis vivæ, if anything else, always takes away the Inflammation, resolves and discusses it.
1732 J. Arbuthnot Pract. Rules of Diet iii. 321 Such a Fever is often resolv'd by a bleeding at the Nose.
1811 E. G. Clarke New London Pract. Physic (ed. 7) 158 Emetics should be given with caution, if at all; and the clyster thrown up, which often resolves the inflammation.
1861 Chicago Med. Examiner 2 493 In relapsing fever, the powerful diaphoresis which so frequently at once resolves the fever, inculcates the same doctrine.
1898 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. V. 361 When empyema follows upon pneumonia, the pulmonary inflammation sometimes is never resolved.
2002 Daily Tel. 3 May 24/8 This [sc. aloe vera gel] may resolve nasal polyps within eight weeks.
d. intransitive. Of a disease, pathological process, etc.: to undergo resolution (resolution n.1 2c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > treatments removing or dispersing matter > remove or disperse [verb (intransitive)] > disperse, etc., humours or morbid matter
incide1612
resolve1793
1793 W. Rowley Rational Pract. Physic III. 13 Its cure should be attempted by a mode similar to the foregoing, by which the tumor often resolves.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. II. 505 Regular fit of gout..gradually resolving, and leaving the constitution in its usual or improved health.
1898 P. Manson Trop. Dis. xxvii. 434 These drugs have undoubtedly the power of causing the eruption in yaws to resolve.
1933 Jrnl. Hygiene 33 283/1 Eustachian drainage is quickly re-established, allowing middle ear inflammation to resolve.
2001 Cats Aug. 9/1 Another possibility is cholangiohepatitis... It often never completely resolves, and tends to flare up from time to time.
†4. intransitive. With of, from. To flow out, issue. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > originate, derive, or arise [verb (intransitive)]
arisec950
syeOE
comeOE
riselOE
springc1175
buildc1340
derivec1386
sourdc1386
proceedc1390
becomea1400
to be descended (from, of)1399
bursta1400
to take roota1400
resolve?c1400
sourdre14..
springc1405
descenda1413
sprayc1425
well?a1475
depart1477
issue1481
provene1505
surmount1522
sprout1567
accrue?1576
source1599
dimane1610
move1615
drill1638
emane1656
emanate1756
originate1758
to hail from1841
deduce1866
inherita1890
stem1932
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) v. met. i. l. 4369 Tigris [and] eufrates resoluen [L. resolvunt] and spryngen of a welle in þe kragges of þe roche of þe contre of achemenye.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xii. xvi. 369 Little peeces..yeeld a certaine whitish liquor which issueth and resolveth from them.
†5. transitive. With in, into, to. To cause to lapse into or be given over to a particular emotional state or mode of behaviour. Usually in passive. Obsolete.When used in relation to tears (of grief, etc.) often as part of an extended metaphor, and as such closer in meaning to sense 1; cf. dissolve v. 3.
ΚΠ
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 153 (MED) Sche was resoluyd in-to terys of pyte & compassyon.
c1460 Tree & 12 Frutes (McClean) (1960) 15 (MED) Ofte tymes after mete many ben resoluid to lightnes and in to vnreligious myrthes.
1533 T. Elyot Pasquil the Playne f. 7 Where thou seest thy lorde or mayster in the presence of many, resolued in to fury or wantonnesse.
1611 B. Jonson Catiline iii. sig. G4 Each house [being] Resolu'd in freedome. View more context for this quotation
1631 R. Bolton Instr. Right Comf. Affl. Consciences 260 The Alien..is by the heate of his slavish horrour, rather enraged with malice, then resolved into mercy.
1679 J. Goodman Penitent Pardoned ii. i. 157 Such reflections and considerations as these break the very heart of a sinner, and resolve him into sighs and tears.
†6. transitive. To cause (conflict) to cease. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1530 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfeccyon (1531) iii. f. CClxxxiiv It resolueth discorde, reconsyleth ennemyes, & maketh them frendes.
7. transitive. Chiefly Scots Law. To annul (a law, contract, etc.). Also intransitive: (of a contract of sale) to become void. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > rule of law > illegality > render illegal [verb (transitive)] > deprive of legal validity
abatea1325
squatcha1325
voida1325
allayc1325
annul1395
reverse1395
revokec1400
rupt?a1425
repealc1425
abroge1427
defeat1429
purloin1461
cassa1464
toll1467
resume1472
reprove1479
suspend1488
discharge1495
reduce1498
cassate1512
defease1512
denulla1513
disannula1513
fordoa1513
avoid1514–5
abrogate?1520
frustrate1528
revert1528
disaffirm?1530
extinct1530
resolve1537
null1538
nihilate1545
extinguish1548
elidec1554
revocate1564
annullate1570
squat1577
skaila1583
irritate1605
retex1606
nullify1607
unable1611
refix1621
vitiate1627
invalid1643
vacate1643
unlaw1644
outlaw1647
invalidate1649
disenact1651
vacuate1654
supersedec1674
destroy1805
break1891
society > law > rule of law > illegality > illegal [verb (intransitive)] > become invalid
abatec1523
resolvea1768
1537 in State Papers Henry VIII (1849) VII. 706 The act made for money by exchange, the wiche,..onles it be resolvid, wilbe a great ocacion..to cawse a stey for salis of wolen clothis.
a1768 J. Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. (1773) II. iii. iii. 449 If he fail to pay the price within the time limited, the sale resolves, and the property returns from him to the seller.
1771 in M. P. Brown Decisions Lords of Council & Session 1766–91 (1826) I. 435 I do not see a substantial difference between the contract before and after the tailyie: all the parties concerned may still agree to resolve the contract and tailyie.
1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scotl. 859 Resolutive Condition, a condition in a sale, which does not suspend the completion of the contract; but which resolves the sale, if the condition be purified at the time specified.
1978 Internat. & Compar. Law Q. 27 277 The far more usual practice [in Roman law] was for the contract of sale to fix the latest date by which the price should be paid and empower the seller to resolve the contract if it was not paid by then.
II. Senses relating to splitting, breaking up, or transformation.
8.
a.
(a) transitive. To break up or separate (a material thing) into constituent parts or elements; to disintegrate (something); (also) to cause (a body, earth, etc.) to decompose. Frequently (now usually) with into (formerly also †to).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)]
resolvea1398
analyse1606
untwist1611
refract1646
disband1695
decomposea1751
decompounda1751
to break up1751
disintegrate1794
to break down1859
dissociate1869
factor1958
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. vii. xxxvi. 384 Whanne þicke mater and gret and glemy so ioyned in þe body meoviþ by hete, hit nediþ þat it be resolued..into vapour.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) ii. pr. vii. l. 1600 What atteineiþ fame to swiche folk whan þe body is resolued by þe deeþ atte þe last[e].
a1450 St. Katherine (Richardson 44) (1884) 52 (MED) Þou haue power for a tyme to vse þy cruelte vppon my body, whyche..abydeth to be resolued in to deþ.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) 2296 (MED) Liquours departith qualitees a-sondyre, Substance resoluynge in attoms with wondire.
1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. xv. 85 Becaus þe stoupis and pillaris þareof war all of tre, they war haistelie brynt and resoluit in powder.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 17v A mellowe ground that is fatte, and wyll soone be resolued.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things ii. 27 A flynt stone lying in Vineger the space of seuen dayes: maye be resolued into powder by rubbing betweene the fyngers.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta iii. 52 They will too soon resolue the iuyce of lighter meats.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 321 O ye my faithfull ones, who are now resolved to the very dust of the earth.
1667 T. Vincent Christ's Appearance to Judgment iv. 17 The flesh is consumed, and resolved into its first elements.
1727 P. Shaw & E. Chambers tr. H. Boerhaave New Method Chem. 177/1 The common doctrine.., that the different substances into which mix'd bodies are commonly resolved by fire, are not of pure and elementary nature.
1776 T. Bowden Farmer's Director 18 By the assistance of alternate rain and drought, to resolve and break the hard clods.
1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 54 When malic acid is distilled at the temperature of 349°, it is resolved into water, and two pyro-acids, which are isomeric.
1891 Spectator 4 July 5/2 A..campaign intended to break up Italy, or to resolve the German Empire back again into its elements.
1931 A. D. Hall Soil (ed. 4) ii. 48 Repeatedly kneading and working it [sc. clay], by which process the naturally formed aggregates are resolved into their ultimate particles.
1945 R. A. Knox God & Atom i. 13 It might be possible..to resolve the molecule into its component parts, but beyond that lay something smaller yet, completely indivisible.
1989 Hobart Mercury (Nexis) 10 Jan. The polysaccharide plastic can be resolved into soil in one to 12 months, depending on its ingredients.
2005 D. J. Davies & L. H. Mates Encycl. Cremation 327/2 The cremationists..argued..that cremation merely resolved the body into its constituent elements.
(b) intransitive. Usually with into (formerly also †to). Of a material thing: to undergo dissolution or separation into constituent parts or elements, or into a more basic or fundamental state; to decompose; to disintegrate. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change [verb (intransitive)] > pass into state, become
yworthOE
worthOE
goOE
becomec1175
come?a1200
waxc1220
charea1225
aworthc1275
makea1300
fallc1300
breedc1325
grow1340
strikea1375
yern1377
entera1382
turna1400
smitec1400
raxa1500
resolvea1500
to get into ——?1510
waxen1540
get1558
prove1560
proceed1578
befall1592
drop1654
evade1677
emerge1699
to turn out1740
to gain into1756
permute1864
slip1864
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > undergo separation into constituents [verb (intransitive)]
resolvea1500
decompose1865
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 68 (MED) Mannys body, þat ys takynge mete and drynke, continuely er dimunisshed and resoluyn aȝeyn, als wel þe bodyes þat ressayuen als þe mete and þe drynke ressayued.
1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. Biii v Fyrst it [sc. the body] anone begynneth to putrefye & resolue in to foule corrupcyon.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. F4v Pleusidippus eyes at this speach resolued into fire.
1648 R. Sanderson Serm. II. 245 As soon as touched..[they] resolve all into dust and smoak.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV lxxvii, in Poems (1878) IV. 20 This Insect..Resolues to dirt againe in the next Storme.
1674 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 9 4 They [sc. leaves] will soon become very hot..and after a few days resolve into a pappy substance.
1716 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad II. vii. 113 Go then! resolve to Earth from whence ye grew.
1787 G. Adams Ess. Microscope 462 The several species of microscopic animals may subside, resolve again into gelatinous filaments, and again give lesser animals.
1820 Edinb. Encycl. (1830) XIV. 138/1 The iron..becomes dry and brittle, resolves into grains, and refuses to cohere or extend under the hammer.
1878 M. A. Brown tr. J. L. Runeberg Nadeschda 66 The marble then In transformation dire into speech resolved.
1916 Lancet 8 July 67/1 The proteins do not all alike resolve into the same amino-acids.
1976 Compar. Biochem. & Physiol. B. 54 434/2 The haemolysates of both plaice and flounder resolve into several components during isoelectric focusing.
2004 G. J. H. Grubben & O. A. Denton Plant Resources Trop. Afr. II. 273/2 When cooked the flesh of mature fruits resolves into thin strands which look like spaghetti.
(c) transitive (reflexive) in same sense. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > turn into [verb (reflexive)]
result1610
resolve1812
1812 Q. Rev. Sept. 30 The whole fabric [of the ship] resolves itself into its constituent parts, scarcely any two of them remaining in adhesion.
1851 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. (ed. 2) 487 The first change..in the Mammalian ovum, is the ‘segmentation’ of the yolk; the entire mass of which..resolves itself..into..segments.
1905 Bot. Gaz. 40 88 This vesicle..resolves itself into fibers.
1937 C. D. Darlington Rec. Adv. in Cytol. (ed. 2) i. 22 The characteristic process of mitosis in the course of which the whole nucleus, apart from the nucleoli, resolves itself into longitudinally split threads, the chromosomes.
†b. transitive. To produce (a substance) by disintegration or decomposition; esp. to cause (smoke or vapour) to be given off from something. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. x. x. 565 Asken..is gendrid and resolued [L. resolutus] of substaunce of erþy matiere by strengþe of hete.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xvii. ii. 892 More smal and sotil smoke is resolued of þe male [tree] þan of þe femel.
c1425 tr. J. Arderne Treat. Fistula (Sloane 6) (1910) 59 (MED) Of rawnes of digestion is þe vryne discolored, And it appereþ with poudry resolucions which bene resolued of malencolious blode.
a1475 in Neuphilol. Mitteilungen (1957) 58 61 (MED) The son and other sterrys, sendyng ther beemys unto the erthe and water, resolvethe of and pulleþe fro the erthe diverse vapores.
a1500 (c1477) T. Norton Ordinal of Alchemy (BL Add.) (1975) l. 1973 (MED) Odour is a smokish vapour resoluyd with hete Owte of a substance bi a Invisible swete.
9.
a.
(a) transitive. To reduce (a subject, statement, phenomenon, etc.) by analysis into more elementary forms, principles, etc.; to consider or demonstrate (something) to be divisible or analysable into. Formerly also with †in.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)] > by reduction to components
resolvea1398
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 329v Þe triangle may nouȝt be so y-deled in oþre figures than triangles in þis wise..þat oþere figures beþ resolued and deled in triangles.
a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. in Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Cambr. Mm.2.15) (1850) xv. 57 An ablatif case absolute may be resoluid into these thre wordis.
1570 H. Billingsley tr. Euclid Elements Geom. i. f. 41v Euery right lined figure is resolued in two triangles.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 284 When the causes doe argue the effect, the effect is resolued into the causes.
a1674 Earl of Clarendon Brief View Leviathan (1676) 8 He resolv'd all Wisdom and Religion itself into a simple obedience and submission to it.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 237 After I had entertain'd these Notions, and by long musing, had as it were resolved them all into nothing.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 233 I was for resolving this phænomenon into Ship-wrecks.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iv. §2. 184 Why may we not..resolve Christianity into a system of practical Morality?
1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues III. 335 All sensation is to be resolved into a similar combination of an agent and patient.
1916 J. E. Boodin Realistic Universe ii. 20 We cannot resolve reality, whether conscious or unconscious, into bundles of perception, or into experience of any form, altogether.
1958 J. S. Hines tr. A. Mathiot Brit. Polit. Syst. i. ii. 88 Such an issue can be resolved into a simple choice between two parties.
2003 Jrnl. Paleontol. 77 1088/1 The distribution of living corbulid genera can be resolved into three broad biogeographic regions.
(b) transitive (reflexive). Of a subject, statement, etc.: to be susceptible of such reduction or analysis.
ΚΠ
1739 D. Hume Treat. Human Nature I. i. 11 All the perceptions of the human mind resolve themselves into two distinct kinds, which I shall call Impressions and Ideas.
1814 T. Chalmers Evid. Christian Revel. ii. 46 The argument..resolves itself into four parts.
1879 J. Lubbock Addresses, Polit. & Educ. iii. 44 His complaint resolves itself into two parts.
1904 Athenæum 9 Apr. 464/3 I find..upon making a careful stichometrical analysis of the Libellus, that it resolves itself into thirty-eight sections.
1956 Shakespeare Q. 7 387 It will be seen from the above printing that the song resolves itself into five sections.
2001 D. Keppel-Jones Strict Metrical Trad. 26 Rhythm tends to resolve itself into three aspects.
b. transitive. To reduce or convert (a quantity) into specified units. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > transform [verb (transitive)] > in character or function
reduce?a1425
convert1557
resolve?a1560
transnature1567
transnaturalize1631
transmutate1632
transdignify1655
process1881
denaturate1895
denature1907
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xxi. sig. G j v Then resolue 20 foote into inches.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. ii. vi. 66 The Degrees resolved into Hours and Minutes, is 1 Hour 49 Min.
a1687 W. Petty Polit. Anat. Ireland (1691) 352 The victuals.., resolved into money, may be estimated 3s. 6d. per week.
a1803 R. Chambers Treat. Estates & Tenures (1824) vi. 189 The reliefs in earlier times..were paid in horses, and arms, and habiliments of war: but these, like other things, were in time resolved into money.
1873 Amer. Educ. Monthly May 193 This day.., if resolved into minutes, and divided by 365, will give the four minutes difference between solar and sidereal time.
1908 Strand Mag. Oct. 440/1 Eighteen thousand francs is not a large sum when resolved into pounds, shillings, and pence.
1938 Navy Dept. Appropriation Bill: Hearings before House Appropriations Comm. (75th U.S. Congr., 3rd Sess.) 207 I should like to have that resolved into dollars and cents... The cost..is $1,713.88.
†c. transitive. To analyse, examine (a statement). Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > investigate, examine [verb (transitive)]
underseekc897
speerc900
lookeOE
askOE
seeOE
teem witnessc1200
seeka1300
fand13..
inquirec1300
undergoc1315
visit1338
pursuea1382
searcha1382
examinec1384
assay1387
ensearchc1400
vesteyea1425
to have in waitc1440
perpend1447
to bring witnessc1475
vey1512
investigate?1520
recounta1530
to call into (also in) question1534
finger1546
rip1549
sight1556
vestigatea1561
to look into ——1561
require1563
descry?1567
sound1579
question1590
resolve1593
surview1601
undersearch1609
sift1611
disquire1621
indagate1623
inspect1623
pierce1640
shrive1647
in-looka1649
probe1649
incern1656
quaeritate1657
inquisite1674
reconnoitre1740
explore1774
to bring to book1786
look-see1867
scrutate1882
to shake down1915
sleuth1939
screen1942
1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie ii. vii. 120 Examine, sift, and resolue their alleaged proofes, till you come to the very roote..whence they springe.
1599 tr. A. Munday Treat. Vertue of Crosse sig. C4v These matters first heere noted, haue vrged vs to resolue such allegations, as are contayned in the first placard.
10.
a.
(a) transitive. To convert, transform, alter, render (a material or immaterial thing) into some other thing or form. Formerly also with †to. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > transform [verb (transitive)]
wendOE
forshapeOE
workOE
awendOE
makec1175
turna1200
forwenda1325
change1340
shape1362
transmewc1374
transposec1380
puta1382
convertc1384
exchangea1400
remue?a1400
makea1425
reduce?a1425
removec1425
resolvea1450
transvertc1450
overchangec1480
mew1512
transmutea1513
wring1524
reduct1548
transform1556
innovate1561
metamorphose1576
transume1579
metamorphize1587
transmove1590
transchangea1599
transfashion1601
deflect1613
fordo1624
entail1628
transmutate1632
distila1637
to make much (also little, something, nothing, etc.) of1637
transqualify1652
unconvert1654
simulate1658
spend1668
transverse1687
hocus-pocus1774
mutate1796
fancy1801
to change around1871
metamorphosize1888
catalyse1944
morph1996
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > transform [verb (transitive)] > in form or appearance
makec1175
transfigurea1340
transformc1340
overcasta1387
translatea1393
shapec1400
resolvea1450
transfigurate?a1475
fashion1528
converta1530
to bless into1534
redact1554
trans-shape1575
deduce1587
star1606
deducta1627
Pythagorize1631
to run into ——a1640
transpeciate1643
transmogrify1656
throw1824
transfeature1875
squirm1876
recontour1913
a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. in Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Cambr. Mm.2.15) (1850) xv. 57 A participle of a present tens..mai be resoluid into a verbe of the same tens, and a coniunccioun copulatif, as thus..seiynge, mai be resoluid thus, and seith, eithir that seith.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 11 Yf ther be any cyvyle law ordeynyd wych can not be resolvyd therto, hyt ys of no value.
1565 N. Sanders Supper of Our Lord iv. f. 196 The cause why the verb est should be resolued into the verb significat, must nedes come from the word corpus body.
1591 R. Wilmot Tancred & Gismund ii. iii. sig. C2v A resolution that resolues my bloud Into the Ice-sie drops of Lethes flood.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iv. iii. 441 The Seas a Theefe, whose liquid Surge, resolues The Moone into Salt teares. View more context for this quotation
a1623 H. Swinburne Treat. Spousals (1686) 27 By the same means..are those Spousals by them contracted in their Minority..resolved or turned into Matrimony.
1674 R. Baxter Full & Easie Satisfaction iv. vii. 127 All their faith of this [sc. the doctrine of transubstantiation] is by them resolved into a phanatick pretence of Inspiration.
1743 M. Tomlinson Protest. Birthright 13 Into whose Authority all Christians have resolved their Faith and Obedience.
1750 J. Campbell Present State Europe x. 281 A very large Proportion of the Debt was, if not paid, at least resolved into Waste Paper.
1861 C. Dickens Great Expectations III. v. 84 The spectral figure..seemed all resolved into a ghastly stare.
1875 E. C. Stedman Victorian Poets (ed. 13) 387 The succeeding chorus..resolves attention to enchantment.
1889 Standard 9 Apr. Emin..has seen islands resolved into headlands.
1933 Mod. Psychologist Nov. 247 Old mind-sets have to be resolved into a hospitable flexibility in order that new attitudes and expectancies may be formed.
1951 A. Schwarzschild tr. R. Luxemburg Accumulation of Capital ii. 55 Referring each private capital unit to its place of production in order to resolve it into a mere product of labour.
2007 D. Clarke in P. Cheney Cambr. Compan. Shakespeare's Poetry x. 193 Her suffering has been resolved into narrative, as she retells her rape.
(b) intransitive. With into or (now less commonly) to. Of an immaterial thing: to change or be transformed into some other form or state; esp. to be susceptible of being interpreted as some other thing. Formerly also with †in.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > undergo separation into constituents [verb (intransitive)] > specifically of something immaterial
resolve1598
1598 R. Barckley Disc. Felicitie of Man v. 393 It resolveth into this inconvenience, that the covetousnes of one wicked man is satisfied by the prejudice of a whole nation.
1647 Bp. J. Taylor Θεολογία Ἐκλεκτική ii. 30 The whole businesse of submitting our understanding to humane authority, comes to nothing; for either it resolves into the direct duty of submitting to God, or if it be spoken of abstractedly, it is no duty at all.
1679 J. Dryden Troilus & Cressida i. i. 2 Then every thing resolves to brutal force And headlong force is led by hoodwink'd will.
1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Moralists iii. i. 158 I..celebrate the Beautys which resolve in Thee, the Source..of all..Perfection.
1752 D. Hume Balance of Trade in Ess. (1817) I. 315 These cases, when examined, will be found to resolve into our general theory.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor ii, in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. II. 32 It would resolve into an equitable claim.
1877 G. Meredith in New Q. Mag. Apr. 20 The Comedy might be performed by a troop of the corps de ballet; and in the recollection of the reading it resolves to an animated shuffle of feet.
1955 R. Graves Crowning Privilege 227 Each scowl resolves into a leer.
1995 I. Duncan in A. Conan Doyle Lost World (1998) p. xix It is at that moment..that Malone resolves into a murderous, alien, yet organic and original self.
(c) transitive (reflexive) in same sense.
ΚΠ
1652 H. L'Estrange Americans No Iewes 73 At last the ridiculous excesse thereof was restrained, and soon after the folly of the devise resolved it self into its dissolution.
1840 U.S. Mag. & Democratic Rev. Jan. 24 The quasi discords of Sappho's melodized passion—still recurring, and still resolving themselves into music.
1856 C. J. Lever Martins of Cro' Martin xxiii. 245 All resolves itself to some question of a harm to one side.
1920 W. T. Tilden Art of Lawn Tennis 67 Match play..resolves itself into a battle of wits and nerve.
1928 Amer. Mercury Oct. 180/1 Consequently, between the violent outrushing of the Holy Spirit and the bad acoustics, the service is apt to resolve itself into one vast gr-r-r-r-r-r.
1976 Times 26 Jan. 6/7 It was a pity that a match which reached such a high pitch of excitement should have resolved itself into a trial by ordeal.
2000 M. Rickards Encycl. Ephemera (2001) 244/1 In many cases the matter resolved itself into a dispute between one parish and another.
b. transitive (reflexive). Of a deliberative body, meeting, etc.: to convert itself into a committee for some particular purpose. Also in passive and intransitive in same sense.
ΚΠ
1641 S. D'Ewes Speech Commons, July 7th (title page) Being resolved into a committee, (so neer as it could be collected together) in the Palatine cause.
1654 T. Fuller Ephemeris Parliamentaria 240 Let us be resolved into a Committee, and presently fall to debate thereof.
1659 S. Butler Acts & Monuments Late Parl. 5 Thereupon the house resolved into a grand Committee to debate the proportioning of the said lands to the particular members.
1710 London Gaz. No. 4699/3 The House resolved it self into a Committee of the whole House.
1753 Scots Mag. Aug. 388/2 The house having resolved itself into a committee of the whole house upon the..bill.
1828 tr. A.-J.-M.-R. Savary Mem. I. ii. v. 43 The commission resolved itself into a council to deliberate.
1885 Manch. Examiner 7 Oct. 5/3 The meeting unanimously resolved itself into a committee.
1902 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 10 414 A formal motion to the effect that on a certain day the house will resolve itself into a committee to consider the supply to be granted to His Majesty.
1977 S. Central Bull. 37 12/1 Professor Werbow moved that the executive committee resolve into a committee of the whole to discuss a matter of general welfare.
1995 Sunday Mail (Queensland) (Nexis) 24 Sept. The use of a council local law on meeting procedure might allow it to resolve itself into a committee to allow the consideration of a secret ballot.
11.
a. transitive and intransitive. Mathematics. To analyse (a force or other vector quantity) into two or more components acting in different directions but collectively having the same effect as the original vector. Cf. resolution n.1 10.
ΚΠ
1719 G. Gordon Remarks Newtonian Philos. 13 All that can here be inferred is, that the actual Motion of the Body in the Line bc, may be resolved into the Forces bf and bg; but then it may as well be resolved into bf, bo and br.
1781 Philos. Trans. 1780 (Royal Soc.) 70 559 Let FD..represent the force communicating the motion at the point D, which resolve into two others.
1806 O. G. Gregory Treat. Mech. I. i. ii. 24 Resolve each of the forces into components respectively parallel to these co-ordinates.
1852 J. B. Phear Elem. Hydrostatics v. 89 Hence, resolving along cO and in a plane perpendicular to it, we have [etc.].
1909 W. H. P. Creighton Steam-engine & Other Heat-motors (ed. 2) xv. 452 Resolve these velocities along the line of motion of the bucket.
1948 Sci. News 7 23 In aerodynamics it is customary to resolve the reaction of the air on a surface into two components, namely lift..and drag.
1956 W. Merchant & A. Bolton Introd. Theory Structures i. 11 Find the size and position of the resultant force R acting on the lamina. Resolving vertically, V = 4 − 2 = 2 lb.
2005 B. J. Nelson et al. in P. Dario & R. Chatila Robotics Res. iii. 120 Capacitors are orthogonally configured to make the force sensor capable of resolving forces in both the x and y directions.
b. transitive. Science. To analyse (a phenomenon, esp. a wave motion) into components which when added together give that phenomenon. Cf. Fourier analysis at Fourier n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > [verb (transitive)] > analyse force into components
resolve1873
the world > matter > physics > mechanics > dynamics > [verb (transitive)] > analyse velocity into components
resolve1873
1873 Med. Times & Gaz. 4 Oct. 396/1 This wave the ear can resolve into its component parts.
1894 Proc. Physical Soc. 13 94 It was most useful to resolve the motion into its fundamental harmonic motions and its overtones.
1936 R. S. Glasgow Princ. Radio Engin. i. 22 The flat-topped wave of Fig. 16a and the peaked wave of Fig. 16b may be resolved into a fundamental and third harmonic.
1965 Math. in Biol. & Med. (Med. Res. Council) i. 38 Figure 3 shows how an analogue computer is used to resolve such a curve into its components.
2005 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A 102 13928/1 To resolve the early phases of the isotonic velocity transient, the acquisition rate was 200 kHz.
12. Music.
a. transitive. To alter or transform (a discord, or relatively dissonant harmony) so as to form a concord, or relatively more consonant harmony. Cf. resolution n.1 9b.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > harmonize [verb (transitive)] > suspend, etc.
prepare1728
resolve1728
suspend1853
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Discord The Discord is resolved by being immediately succeeded by a Concord.
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 125/1 There is no possible manner of resolving a dissonance which is not derived from an operation of cadence.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 50/1 Most discords require to be prepared, and all must be resolved.
1868 F. A. G. Ouseley Treat. Harmony (1875) ii. 20 When the discords have thus been rendered agreeable to the ear, they are said to be resolved.
1924 Musical Times Feb. 132/2 If we resolve the dominant chord at the double-bar on page 5, it makes a complete movement in itself.
2003 L. Black Franz Schubert 31 The root of the dominant-seventh chord..is not actually heard in the crucial chord.., though it is there again in the upper part immediately the dissonance is resolved.
b. intransitive. Of a discord or relatively dissonant harmony: to undergo such a transformation. Of a note: to effect such a transformation by passing to another note. Frequently with on to or upon.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > harmony or sounds in combination > harmonize [verb (intransitive)] > resolve
resolve1825
1825 J. F. Danneley Encycl. Music The seventh and ninth are dissonant, and therefore resolve or descend one degree.
1878 Johnson's New Universal Cycl. (new ed.) III. 683/1 A seventh, instead of resolving into the perfect triad, may be succeeded by another seventh.
1889 E. Prout Harmony xiv. §332 All chords of the ninth can resolve upon their own generator.
1942 Music & Lett. 23 20 In the middle parts there is an F persisting which only resolves on to E♭ on the final two notes.
1989 P. van der Merwe Origins Pop. Style (1992) xx. 173 Typically these blue sevenths..fall to the dominant, resolving onto the dominant in much the same way as the blue third resolves onto the tonic.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 17 June 4 Basically, Wagner sounds a chord at the beginning and it never resolves until the very end.
13.
a. transitive. Science. Originally: (of optical instruments or persons using them) to reveal or perceive (a nebula) as a cluster of distinct stars. Later more widely: to distinguish parts or components of (something) that are close together in space or time; to identify or distinguish individually (peaks in a graph, lines in a spectrum, etc.). Cf. resolution n.1 6.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > lens > [verb (transitive)] > resolve
resolve1785
1785 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 75 219 When he resolves one nebula into stars, he discovers ten new ones which he cannot resolve.
1833 London & Edinb. Philos. Mag. 2 338 These small brown moths possess very delicate and unique scales, requiring some tact in the management of the illumination, to resolve their lines distinctly.
1868 J. N. Lockyer Elem. Lessons Astron. §77 Star-clusters..so distant that even in telescopes of great power they could not be resolved.
1932 Proc. Royal Soc. A. 136 313 Two particles separated by as little as 1/500th second could be ‘resolved’ and correctly recorded.
1962 H. D. Bush Atomic & Nucl. Physics iii. 58 If the fine structure is examined with the aid of very high resolution instruments, each component of the fine structure is resolved into further components.
2001 N. J. Lane in R. Catlow & S. Greenfield Cosmic Rays 73 The light microscope was unable to resolve detail much below 0.2μm.
b. intransitive and transitive (reflexive). With into. Of an object initially perceived indistinctly: to become identifiable, esp. as a number of discrete objects, when seen more clearly. Also in extended use.
ΚΠ
1825 R. Taylor Key to Knowl. Nature iv. 78 Many of the stars which appear single to the naked eye, on the application of the telescope, resolve themselves into two or more.
1853 L. Sunderland Bk. Human Nature 42 Were we to look at our solar system from myriad millions of miles, it would appear to us a conglobated or solid mass... But when we near it, it resolves into planets and satellites.
1890 K. Munroe Under Orders v. 67 As he rounded a corner this noise resolved itself into the shouts, cheers, and yells of an angry mob.
1897 Yale Lit. Mag. Oct. 35 It resolved into a black speck and a white one.
1921 National Geographic Mag. Mar. 269/1 A minute object that separated into two as we drew nearer, and finally resolved itself into a pair of vessels linked together with a tow-line.
1985 Pop. Sci. Feb. 70/1 As the distance closes, the pod resolves into a trio of connected cylinders, each larger than a tour bus.
1992 F. Kemske Lifetime Employm. xii. 161 The faint cracking sound resolved itself into the din of a half dozen different kinds of firearm being discharged repeatedly.
2002 A. Proulx That Old Ace in Hole (2003) i. 3 There appeared, far ahead..a wambling black dot that resolved into a bicyclist.
14. transitive. Chemistry. To separate (a racemic compound or mixture) into optical isomers.
ΚΠ
1899 J. McCrae tr. H. Landolt Optical Activity & Chem. Composition 90 Fermentation lactic acid in the form of its zinc ammonium salt..has been resolved [Ger. zerfällt] by crystallisation into the d- and l-lactates.
1919 S. W. Cole Pract. Physiol. Chem. (ed. 5) v. 151 Equal parts of the d- and l- varieties are formed. These can often be resolved into their active constituents.
1983 R. O. C. Norman & D. J. Waddington Mod. Org. Chem. (ed. 4) xv. 245 Racemic mixtures which are not acids or bases can often be resolved by first making them into derivatives with acid groups.
2001 J. S. Varcoe Clin. Biochem. xi. 16 Chiral additives can be included in the buffer to resolve stereo isomers.
15. transitive. Computing. To translate (a readable, alphanumeric domain name) into a numerical IP address, typically by means of the domain name system. Also: to identify (the IP address) of a particular domain name. Cf. resolver n. 5.
ΚΠ
1983 P. Mockapetris Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 882. 15 These name servers..must resolve names for at least all the hosts in the domain.
1993 InfoWorld (Nexis) 25 Oct. 65 We noticed we were unable to use our host's file to resolve IP addresses. Another call to technical support.
2003 B. Komar et al. Firewalls for Dummies (ed. 2) x. 175 Type the Web site name in the address bar of the Web browser. This name is resolved to the IP address of the Web site with the help of DNS servers.
III. To untie; to answer, solve; to decide, determine.
16. transitive. To untie, unbind, loosen; to release (something) from its bonds (literal and figurative); (perhaps) to disentangle.In later use only in figurative contexts with reference to knots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or detachment > loosening or unfastening > loosen, unfasten, or untie [verb (transitive)]
unbindc950
undoc950
unleeseOE
breaka1225
unfest?c1225
leesea1325
loosena1382
unloosea1382
loose1388
resolvea1398
unlace?c1400
unfastenc1440
unloosen?a1475
to let slip1526
unbrace?1526
diffibulatea1538
unframe1567
unclit1587
undight1590
unclip1598
unclenchc1600
unreeve1600
unlock1609
ungrapple1611
unquilt1611
abstringe1623
renode1623
unspan1648
unfast1684
disengage1780
undub1807
unclap1846
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xxii. 123 Ȝif þis spirit ben apeired and ihurt and ilette of here worchinge..þe acord of þe body and soule is resolued.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. xi. iii. 574 Þe west wynd..resolueþ and vnbindiþ wyntir and bringiþ for[þ] gras, herbis, and floures.
c1450 ( J. Walton tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Linc. Cathedral 103) 204 (MED) Youre resouns weyuen [y]e so wondirly In maner like þe hous of Dydalus Full hard for to resoluen and vnplye [L. inextricabilem labyrinthum rationibus texens].
?1518 A. Barclay tr. D. Mancinus Myrrour Good Maners sig. B.ivv Thy wyttes to apply To resolue or argue: with wordes superflue The knottes intrycate, of bablynge sophystry.
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos vii. 155 Resolue [L. solvite] your heades attyre, & celebrate this daunce with me.
1591 H. Smith Treat. Lords Supper i. 26 Resolue this knot & al is cleere.
1610 Bible (Douay) II. Dan. v. 16 Thou canst interpret obscure thinges, and resolue [L. dissolvere] thinges bound.
a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady iv. viii. 51 in Wks. (1640) III What deserves he In your opinion, Madam..can resolve the knot?
1776 J. Berington Lett. Materialism ii. 30 He..resolves the knot, by asking another question.
1844 N. Brit. Rev. May 132 A true philosophy..resolves the knot when it is most perplexed.
1881 T. Woolner Pygmalion vi. 89 You..Tend to resolve all tangles by the stroke Of steel.
1936 E. Fitzgerald tr. F. Mehring Karl Marx iii. 65 In the one case it is a question of resolving the knot, and in the other one of first tying it.
2005 Windsor (Ont.) Star (Nexis) 29 Dec. b4 Perhaps he can unravel and resolve some of the emotional knots that leave him so tied up that he cannot be successful.
17.
a.
(a) transitive. To answer (a question); to solve (a problem of any kind); to determine, settle, or decide upon (a point or matter regarding which there is doubt or dispute). Formerly also: †to make an effective response to (a proposition, argument, etc.) (obsolete). Also reflexive.Sometimes with indirect question as object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > testing > resolving of problem, solution > find solution, solve [verb (transitive)]
findOE
assoilc1374
soil1382
contrive1393
to find outc1405
resolvea1438
absolvea1525
solute?1531
solve?1541
dissolve1549
get1559
salvec1571
to beat out1577
sort1581
explicate1582
untiea1586
loose1596
unsolve1631
cracka1640
unscruple1647
metagrobolize1653
to puzzle out1717
to work out1719
to get around ——1803
to dope out1906
lick1946
to get out1951
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > answer [verb (transitive)] > solve
soil1382
solve?1541
resolve1577
answer1579
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > render certain [verb (reflexive)] > by freeing from doubt
resolve1661
a1438 Bk. Margery Kempe (1940) i. 35 (MED) Þe clerkys askyd þis creatur many hard qwestyons, þe wych sche be þe grace of Ihesu resoluyd, so þat hir answerys lykyd þe Bysshop rygth wel.
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 34 Þilke persoones whiche ben so lowȝe and symple in witt, leernyng, and kunnyng þat þei not sufficen to resolue and brynge maters of philosophie in to her groundis of resoun.
1550 T. Cranmer Def. Sacrament iv. f. 94 S. Augustine, most plainly resolueth this matter in his booke.., disputing against two kinds of heretiques.
1577 tr. St. Augustine in H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. II. iii. ix. sig. Oo.jv/1 Mee thinketh therefore that this question can bee none otherwise resolued.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 212 Least he exclayme agayne that his argumentes are not throughly resolved, I will answere in few wordes.
1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (i. 9) 29 Resoluing all doubtful cases.
1647 J. Sprigge Anglia Rediviva ii. i. 64 This resolved the question at the councell of War, without puting it.
1661 J. Davies tr. D. Blondel Treat. Sibyls ii. xi. 110 Does the Flaming Sword keep the entrance of Paradise against the Saints? But the Question resolves it self.
1704 J. Swift Disc. Mech. Operat. Spirit i, in Tale of Tub 284 I have been perplexed for some time, to resolve what would be the most proper Form to send it abroad in.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. iv. xii. 87 Whether Mrs. Honour really deserved that Suspicion..is a Matter which we cannot indulge the Reader's Curiosity by resolving . View more context for this quotation
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 19. ⁋15 After a great part of life spent in enquiries which can never be resolved.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. iii. i. 221 We are called upon to resolve the important but complicated problem.
1858 D. Boucicault Pope of Rome i. ii. 9 The business our friends are summoned hither to determine will resolve the matter.
1941 Astounding Sci.-Fiction Feb. 115/2 Don't drive yourself crazy trying to resolve the paradoxes of time-travel.
1969 Times 15 Aug. 4/5 New studies designed to resolve how insulin works.
1980 J. Calder RLS iii. 56 He reflected on the tricky problem of chastity, but could not resolve it.
2002 New Yorker 11 Nov. 78/3 Comedy theorists..have yet to resolve even such simple questions as where knock-knock jokes come from.
(b) transitive. With double object. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1577 M. Hanmer tr. Socrates Scholasticus iv. xviii, in Aunc. Eccl. Hist. 331 I muzed what to answere, and requested him to resolue me the doubt.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus v. iii. 35 Resolue me this, Was it well done..To slay his daughter. View more context for this quotation
1706 R. Estcourt Fair Example i. i Pray will you resolve me one Question?
a1707 T. Brown Saints in Uproar in Wks. (1707) I. 109 Resolve me a Question or two.
1786 E. Inchbald I'll tell you What iv. i. 65 If you can resolve me that..I have no censure for you.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe iii. x. 233 And how should my poor valour succeed, Sir Jester, when thy light wit halts?—resolve me that.
1862 Church of People Jan. 10 Perhaps so,—but first resolve me the question in what does brutishness consist?
1905 H. C. Beeching Let. 30 Sept. in E. V. Lucas Post-bag Diversions (1934) 13 Now resolve me a question.
1946 L. de la Torre Dr. Sam: Johnson, Detector 190 ‘Pray, Dr. Johnson,’ said I, ‘resolve me one thing. If the strange message was not Ogam, what was it?’
†b. transitive. To explain; to make clear. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > expound, explain [verb (transitive)]
arecchec885
unloukOE
overrunOE
sutelec1000
trahtnec1000
unfolda1050
belayc1175
openc1175
onopena1200
accountc1300
undo?a1366
remenea1382
interpret1382
unwrap1387
exploitc1390
enlumine1393
declarec1400
expoundc1400
unplait?c1400
enperc1420
planea1425
clearc1440
exponec1440
to lay outc1440
to give (also carry) lightc1449
unwind1482
expose1483
reducea1500
manifest1530
explicate1531
explaina1535
unlock?1536
dilucidate1538
elucidate1538
illustrate1538
rechec1540
explicate1543
illucidate1545
enucleate1548
unsnarl1555
commonstrate1563
to lay forth1577
straighten1577
unbroid1577
untwist1577
decipherc1586
illuminate1586
enlighten1587
resolvec1592
cipher1594
eliquidate1596
to take (a person) with one1599
rivelc1600
ravel1604
unbowel1606
unmist1611
extricate1614
unbolta1616
untanglea1616
enode1623
unperplexa1631
perspicuate1634
explata1637
unravel1637
esclarea1639
clarify1642
unweave1642
detenebrate1646
dismystery1652
undecipher1654
unfork1654
unparadox1654
reflect1655
enodate1656
unmysterya1661
liquidatea1670
recognize1676
to clear upa1691
to throw sidelight on1726
to throw (also cast, shed) light on (also upon)1731
eclaircise1754
irradiate1864
unbraid1880
predigest1905
to get (something) straight1920
disambiguate1960
demystify1963
c1592 Faire Em sig. B2v In frendship then resolue What is the cause of your vnlookt for stay?
1633 J. Ford 'Tis Pitty shee's Whore i. sig. B2 v Flo. What's the ground? Sor. That with your patience Signiors, I'le resolue.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Yorks. 206 Some resolve all his passion on a point of meer revenge.
1718 M. Prior Solomon on Vanity iii, in Poems Several Occasions (new ed.) 504 The Man who would resolve the Work of Fate, May limit Number, and make Crooked Strait.
1821 W. Wordsworth Eccl. Sonn. i. xxix The full-orbed Moon..doth appear Silently to consume the heavy clouds; How no one can resolve.
1866 H. Bushnell Vicarious Sacrifice Introd. 14 Attempts have been made, in all ages,..to assert..what is called ‘the moral view’ of the atonement, and resolve it by the power it wields in human character.
1877 E. Leigh Gloss. Words Dial. Cheshire 168 Au canna mak it out, yoe mun resolve it.
c. transitive. Mathematics. To solve (a mathematical problem, esp. an equation); to find a simpler form of (an equation) from which a solution can be readily inferred. Cf. resolution n.1 14a(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematics > calculate or solve [verb (transitive)]
rimeeOE
calcule1377
numbera1382
accounta1387
casta1400
calk1401
computate1449
suppute?a1475
reckona1513
to cast up1539
yield1542
supputate1555
practise?a1560
calculate1570
compute1579
work1582
quantulate1610
resolve1613
find1714
to work out1719
solve1737
to figure out1854
1613 R. Witt (title) Arithmeticall questions..briefly resolued.
1669 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 4 934 Dr Wallis, who hath so excellently resolved..Cubick Æquations.
1685 J. Wallis Let. 25 Apr. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) VI. 115 A Question of Compound Interest, Resolved by Logarithms, at One Operation.
1737 tr. I. Newton Treat. Method of Fluxions 21 I then assume some Number for a and resolve this Equation.
1798 C. Hutton Course Math. I. 240 All equations, in which there are two terms involving the unknown quantity..are resolved like quadratics, by completing the square.
1850 C. Davies Logic & Utility Math. 266 Every geometrical question can be solved, if we can resolve the corresponding algebraic equation.
1874 J. Ficklin Compl. Algebra xiii. 240 Resolve the first member of the equation x2 + 73x + 780 = 0 into two binomial factors. Ans. (x + 60)(x + 13) = 0.
1905 F. M. Saxelby Course Pract. Math. vi. 68 No general rule can be given for resolving an expression into factors.
1970 Times 16 June p. vii/2 The optimum development of so many schemes depends upon resolving a simultaneous equation where the unknowns are design, cost and return.
2007 Desalination 209 302/1 We resolve the equation system by fixing parameters.
d. transitive. To settle (a dispute or argument); to reconcile opposing elements or tendencies within (a conflict, contradiction, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > dissent > absence of dissension or peace > bringing about concord or peace > bring to peace (strife or discord) [verb (transitive)] > settle (a dispute)
peasec1330
reconcilea1393
compone1523
compromit1537
compound1546
atone1555
to take up1560
compose1570
gree1570
accommodate1609
concoct1620
even1620
sopite1628
to make up1699
liquidate1765
resolve1875
1875 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Jan. 7/1 If, to resolve those conflicts, you should think it desirable..to arm the Executive Power with the right of appealing to the judgment of the country.
1901 Times 1 Feb. 3/6 He suggested that it be given to a tribunal to resolve the dispute which existed between Protestants and Roman Catholics.
1914 Philos. Rev. 23 353 Plotinus's effort..to resolve the conflict between these two elements in his view, Dr. Fuller finds to be wholly futile.
1972 M. Halperin Rise & Decline Fidel Castro xxv. 280 A special mode of communication that permitted the two parties to conduct and resolve the quarrel in public without acknowledging the existence of the quarrel.
1988 Engineer 17 Mar. 7/1 British Coal is expected to meet the South of Scotland Electricity Board to try to resolve the stand-off over cheap coal imports.
2005 Campaign 22 July 21/4 Since this spat is more damaging to you than to him, he may not be all that keen to resolve it.
18.
a. transitive. To remove, clear away, dispel (a doubt, uncertainty, or obscurity).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > assure, make certain [verb (transitive)] > remove doubts
resolve1548
1548 Hall's Vnion: Edward IV f. cxciv All suche doubtes, were now shortly resolued and determined, and all feare of his doynges, wer clerely put vnder and extinct.
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xix. sig. F ij Small practize will resolue all doubtes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 (1623) iv. i. 132 But ere I goe, Hastings and Mountague Resolue my doubt. View more context for this quotation
1643 Sir T. Browne Religio Medici (authorized ed.) 48 Myself can shew a catalogue of Doubts which are not resolved at the first hearing.
1667 A. Marvell Let. 2 Feb. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 54 If you find any thing perplext in it I shall..resolue any scruple that you may haue of its exposition.
1706 J. Vanbrugh Mistake ii. i. 10 You must resolve one Doubt which often gives me great Disturbance.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xvii. 464 He was frequently requested to resolve the doubts of inferior judges.
1817 J. Mill Hist. Brit. India II. iv. v. 165 All doubts might be resolved by the interrogation..of the commander.
1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xiii. 198 She had bravely resolved her doubts and made up her mind.
1939 Chester (Pa.) Times 22 Mar. 3/4 Such grim statistics resolve any lingering doubt as to the effectiveness of Russia's military power.
1991 Times Educ. Suppl. 22 Feb. 38/3 The encyclopaedist aims to resolve uncertainty, not to enjoy its multiple creative possibilities.
2008 P. Masterson Sense of Creation 110 Such observations..cannot be presumed to resolve the profoundly held misgivings of atheists about the existence..of God.
b. transitive. To dispel, allay, assuage (an emotion or feeling, as fear, curiosity, etc.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > eradicate or extirpate > sin, fear, etc.
updrawc1290
fordo1340
extirp1483
roota1500
dissipate1532
extirpate1538
profligate1542
rout1559
disperse1563
rescind1579
resolve1580
overplough1596
1580 J. Lyly Euphues & his Eng. in Euphues (new ed.) f. 18v Your reply hath fully resolued that feare.
a1626 W. Rowley Birth of Merlin (1662) sig. G4 Speak learned Merlin, and resolve my fears.
1635 J. Reynolds Triumphs Gods Revenge (new ed.) iv. xvii. 341 The patience of a little time, will shortly resolve our curiositie, whereunto these different affections will tend.
1723 J. Robe Fatal Legacy v. 67 While yet I have remaining Life to hear thee, Resolve the Fears thy Words have rais'd within me.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones III. vii. iii. 15 Indeed we cannot resolve his Curiosity as to this Point. View more context for this quotation
1833 W. J. Neale Port Admiral III. xii. 243 She..ascended to the top of Maker Tower, anxious yet dreading to descry the approach of some vessel, which would resolve her fears.
1958 J. Betjeman Coll. Poems 278 The waltz was played, the songs were sung, The night resolved our fears.
†19. transitive (reflexive). To join oneself to a person's opinion. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > agreement, concurrence, or unanimity > be in agreement [verb (reflexive)] > come to an agreement > join oneself to another's opinion
resolve1548
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxxiij Therle of Salisbury and other his frendes, seing his corage, resolued themselfes to his opinion.
†20.
a. transitive. To free (a person) from doubt or perplexity; to bring to a clear understanding; to provide with definite information. Obsolete.In quot. 1548 with the senses as object.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > assure, make certain [verb (transitive)] > bring someone to certainty
resolve1548
decide1604
1548 E. Gest Treat. againste Masse sig. Bivv The broken bread and blessed wyne be institute purposely to resolve and ascertayn our senses.
1549 J. Ponet Def. Mariage Priestes sig. Dviiiv I haue wyshed that som learned man wold take the paynes to resolue the vnlearned sorte touchyng that poynt.
1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) 399 If you yet doubt, conferre (I pray you) his report with theirs, and it shall resolue you.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Measure for Measure (1623) iv. ii. 208 Yet you are amaz'd, but this shall absolutely resolue you. View more context for this quotation
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar ii. 98 To strengthen the weake, to resolue the scrupulous, to teach the ignorant.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 356 We knew not what Course to take, but the Creatures resolv'd us soon.
1766 A. Williams tr. P. Metastasio Uninhabited Island vi, in Misc. 161 Whate'er it be, it has a pleasing form: My Sister shall resolve me.
1772 J. Wesley Jrnl. 31 Oct. They asked me, ‘whether they were good or bad spirits?’ But I could not resolve them.
b. transitive. With of or in and complement expressing the matter of doubt. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. f.iii v I am also resolued nowe in another doubt, whereof I shoulde neuer haue ben answered yf ye had not made me perceyue it.
1549 J. Ponet tr. B. Ochino Tragoedie Unjuste Usurped Primacie sig. y.ii We haue sent for you..to resolue vs of a dout, that is come to our minde.
1567 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 515 That thai being certifiit of the veritie may be resolvit of all doubt.
?1573 H. Cheke tr. F. Negri Freewyl ii. ii. 75 I haue ben desirous of long tyme to know it, and I could neuer meete with any whiche was able to resolue me in this poynt.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke 4 If you remember that which before you tolde mee you vnderstood: you would resolue your selfe of that doubt.
1648 T. Gage Eng.-Amer. 6 To resolve the Pope himself of whatsoever difficult points in Divinity may be questioned.
1651 N. Culpeper Semeiotica Uranica sig. B3v I know you would be resolved in one particular.
a1742 T. Story Jrnl. of Life (1747) 212 Not knowing how we might afterwards be engaged, we did not resolve him in that Point.
1767 ‘Coriat Junior’ Another Traveller! II. 23 You may ask whatever questions you please, and you shall be resolved of everything within my power.
c. transitive. With indirect question as complement. Obsolete (in later use passing into sense 23b).
ΚΠ
1565 J. Jewel Replie Hardinges Answeare i. 18 Concerning Consecration, he doth greate wronge to charge vs with ye breache thereof, before he him selfe and others of his side be better resolued wherein standeth Consecration.
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 ii. i. 9 I cannot ioy vntil I be resolu'de, Where our right valiant father is become.
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII (1649) 520 He sent to Spain to be resolved..which of the two Marriages were most convenient.
1690 J. Locke Two Treat. Govt. i. xi. §147 It will always remain a Doubt..till our A. resolves us, whether Shem..had right to Govern.
1720 D. Defoe Life Capt. Singleton 273 Whether we..may come off any better..I cannot resolve thee.
1756 G. Washington Let. in Writings (1889) I. 253 I wish your Honor would resolve me, whether the militia..must be supplied out of the public stocks of provisions.
†21.
a. transitive. To come to a conclusion about, settle in one's mind, be sure of. Also with clause or infinitive as object. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > judge, determine [verb (transitive)] > conclude
resolvec1565
conclude1586
pitch1610
reduce1616
to set at rest1826
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > render certain [verb (reflexive)]
resolvec1565
certify1600
ascertain1601
c1565 ‘T. C.’ tr. G. Boccaccio Galesus Cymon & Iphigenia sig. A.viv Her Heere, like goulden wyre, he painted foorth with praise, And fully was resolued in minde, they shonne as Phebvs rayes.
a1618 W. Raleigh Remains (1644) 237 He left me so weak that he resolved not to find me alive.
1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 55 I was some days since to seek what to resolve in this great debate.
1702 J. Logan in Mem. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania (1870) IX. 122 Having solicitously resolved several things in my thoughts relating to it, I endeavoured to stave them off.
b. transitive. With object complement: to be certain that (a person or thing) is what is specified; (also) to show conclusively to be of a certain character. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > hold an opinion [verb (transitive)] > form an opinion > of quality, character, etc.
resolve1613
to sum up1631
to take (also get) the measure of1790
size1884
to weigh up1894
size1896
1613 J. Stephens Cinthias Reuenge v. vi. sig. Rv I (Madam) will remoue the deere suspence Of question..And so resolue you a whore absolute.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. v, in Wks. I. 579 But he looses no reputation with vs, for we all resolu'd him an asse before. View more context for this quotation
1625 R. Montagu Appello Cæsarem 2 All things..so Delivered..are Errors actuall in themselves; and so stand resolved and accounted of in the Doctrine of the Church.
c. transitive. To fix upon (a person) for a particular purpose. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > choice or choosing > choose [verb (transitive)] > specifically a person
resta1500
resolve1710
finger1945
1710 D. Manley Mem. Europe I. iii. 358 She had..resolved him for her peculiar Pleasures, tho' she knew not what way to compass what she had resolved.
†22.
a. transitive. Chiefly with of or that. To convince or assure (a person) that something is the case. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > assurance, confirmation, or guarantee > assure, confirm, or guarantee [verb (transitive)] > a person
sicker1297
ensurec1385
behightc1386
promise1469
insurea1500
warranta1529
resolve1567
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > act of convincing, conviction > bring to belief, convince [verb (transitive)] > of something
persuadec1487
resolve1567
evict1594
credit1611
evince1621
secure1630
sell1916
sell1918
1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. i. f. 13 Being at larg resolued of that which you haue hard by speciall reporte [he] went imediatlye to his chamber [Fr. Ayant ouy ceste histoire; It. Anselmo hebbe inteso il periglio oue Carlo si trouaua].
1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast iv. ix. f. 473 M. Horn..goeth roundlye to the matter, and resolueth vs, that this Decree was made not by the Apostles only.
1590 E. Webbe Rare & Wonderfull Things (new ed.) To Rdr. They doubtles will resolue them that it is true which is here expressed.
a1604 M. Hanmer Chron. Ireland 159 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) This Lacy behaved himselfe so discreetly..that the King was resolved of his truth and fidelity.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. viii. 20 Long since we were resolued of your truth. View more context for this quotation
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 830 It is said of Hanna, that ere Eli had resolved her from God of a sonne, shee was full of trouble.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico viii. 30 And, when they resolved him no danger should accrue to either [etc.].
1726 W. R. Chetwood Voy. & Adventures Capt. R. Boyle 258 The Colonel resolv'd me that he had the Means in his own Hands to pacify him.
1736 H. Fielding Tumble-down Dick Argt. sig. Aiv She advises him to go to the Round-House,..and there be resolved from his own Mouth of the Truth of his Sire.
b. transitive (reflexive). To assure, satisfy, or convince oneself in regard to something. Also: to be assured, know with certainty (frequently in imperative). Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > act of convincing, conviction > convince oneself [verb (reflexive)]
persuade?1541
resolve1567
1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. xxv. f. 223v Rhomeo, thou must fully resolue thy selfe vpon one of these .ij. points.
1585 T. Bilson True Difference Christian Subiection i. 139 You shall thereby resolue your selfe howe farre Princes then lawfully might, and carefully did medle with guiding and ruling the Church of God.
1587 A. Fleming et al. Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) III. Contin. 1351/1 Resolue your selfe my lord, you haue a goodlie soule.
1593 T. Lodge Life & Death William Long Beard C 3 In youth be true, and then in age resolve thee, Friends will be friends.
a1618 W. Raleigh Remains (1644) 237 If I live to return, resolve your self that it is the care for you that hath strengthened my heart.
1657 S. Purchas Theatre Flying-insects 74 If you taste it, you will easily resolve your self.
1692 T. Taylor tr. G. Daniel Voy. World Cartesius i. 39 Settle and compose your self, for you seem a little disturb'd: And resolve your self you need not fear, and that you shall receive no harm.
1707 D. Manley Almyna i. i. 9 Soon resolve your self, he is a Lover, But with that Duty, to his Royal Brother, As without his permission, not to hope.
1709 Ld. Shaftesbury Moralists ii. iii. 92 We apprehend a larger Scheme, and easily resolve our selves why Things were not compleated in this State.
1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision III. xxviii. 7 [As one who] turneth to resolve him, if the glass Have told him true.
1830 E. Bulwer-Lytton Paul Clifford II. i. 32 Could he do so? Umph! No, I have resolved myself, that is impossible.
1869 E. M. Goulburn Pursuit of Holiness vi. 48 He must resolve himself on the question.
c. intransitive. To be satisfied, certain, or convinced. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > absence of doubt, confidence > assured fact, certainty > making certain, assurance > be convinced or satisfied [verb (intransitive)]
rest1561
resolve1585
to set (up) one's rest1594
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xx. 24 The Gouernor by the counsell of those that had perswaded him too surrender,..resolued vppon so smal an assurance of the Bascha [Fr. resolut soubs tant peu asseurée parolle du Bascha].
1601 B. Jonson Every Man in his Humor i. iii. sig. C3 Bob. For do you see sir,..I would not extend thus farre. Mat. O Lord sir I resolue so. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) i. iii. 70 Resolue on this, thou shalt be fortunate, If thou receiue me for thy Warlike Mate. View more context for this quotation
1659 H. Hammond Paraphr. & Annot. Psalms (cxix. 151–152 Paraphr.) 610 I have allwayes, since I knew any thing of thee, resolved of the truth of it.
†23.
a. transitive. To inform or tell (a person) of something. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > action of informing > give (information) [verb (transitive)] > inform (a person)
to teach a person a thingc888
meanOE
wiseOE
sayOE
wittera1225
tellc1225
do to witc1275
let witc1275
let seec1330
inform1384
form1399
lerea1400
to wit (a person) to saya1400
learn1425
advertise1431
givec1449
insense?c1450
instruct1489
ascertain1490
let1490
alighta1500
advert1511
signify1523
reform1535
advise1562
partake1565
resolve1568
to do to ware1594
to let into one's knowledge1596
intellect1599
possess1600
acquainta1616
alighten1615
recommenda1616
intelligence1637
apprise1694
appraise1706
introduce1741
avail1785
prime1791
document1807
to put up1811
to put a person au fait of1828
post1847
to keep (someone) straight1862
monish1866
to put next to1896
to put (one) wise (to)1896
voice1898
in the picture1900
to give (someone) a line on1903
to wise up1905
drum1908
hip1932
to fill (someone) in on1945
clue1948
background1961
to mark a person's card1961
to loop in1994
1568 Reg. Privy Council Scotl. I. 629 It is thocht convenient to resolve all personis of the same, that nane heireftir sall pretend occasioun of ignorance.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III iv. v. 19 These letters will resolue him of my minde. View more context for this quotation
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 451 He went back, resoluing them of my stiffe denyall.
1645 J. Corbet Hist. Relation Mil. Govt. Gloucester 124 Colonell Massie tooke courage to resolve them of the incapacitie of that service for the present.
b. transitive. With clause as complement, esp. expressing an indirect question. Also in imperative with a direct question to which the speaker seeks an answer. Obsolete (archaic in later use).
ΚΠ
1568 in J. Anderson Coll. Mary Queen of Scotl. (1728) IV. ii. 56 We desir to be resolvit quhether ye haife..sufficient authoritie..to pronunce..giltie or not giltie.
1588 A. Munday tr. Palmerin D'Oliua xxx. f. 93 Are ye (my Lord) the king of Thessalie, for whom my hart hath suffered exceeding greefe? I praie ye resolue me presentlie.
a1593 C. Marlowe Massacre at Paris (c1600) sig. D5 The wound I warrant ye is deepe my Lord, Search Surgeon and resolue me what thou seest.
1602 B. Jonson Poetaster iv. ii. sig. Gv Pray you, resolue me, why you giue that heauenly praise, to this earthly Banquet? View more context for this quotation
1607 J. Norden Surueyors Dialogue ii. 56 I pray thee, if thou canst, resolue me. Whether is the heriot payd [etc.]?
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis viii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 438 Resolve me, Strangers, whence, and what you are.
a1704 T. Brown Saints in Uproar in Wks. (1707) I. 111 Who was your Father? Come, resolve me immediately.
1709 M. Prior Poems Several Occasions 137 Can Sense this Paradox endure? Resolve me, Cambray, or Fontaine.
1778 R. Cumberland Battle of Hastings iii. 46 Go! Yet stay—resolve me, hast thou weigh'd the danger?
1840 E. S. Wortley Jairah i. ii. 36 But first—resolve me!—saidst thou thou hadst prayed, And vainly to thy Zöphiel's silent shade?
1860 A. C. Swinburne Queen-mother iii. iii. 91 Cino. Are you yet satisfied? Ca. This is dead ware... Cino. But are you not? resolve me; are not you?
c. transitive. To answer (a person); to reply to. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > answer [verb (transitive)]
andwurdec885
aqueathOE
answerOE
swarec1175
respoundc1300
replyc1425
replique1477
reanswer1523
replicate1535
undersay1579
rejoin1581
resolve1586
return1597
repone1614
resounda1617
repart1631
remoot1676
reason1841
to get back to1963
the mind > attention and judgement > answer > answer [verb (transitive)] > sufficiently
satisfyc1454
resolve1586
1586 G. Pettie & B. Yong tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (rev. ed.) iv. f. 219 I resolue thee (faire Ladie) thus [Fr. Vous deuez sçavoir que; It. Io ui faccio sapere, che], that many times I tried [etc.].
1632 J. Vicars tr. Virgil XII Aeneids v. 144 Then aged Nautes..Resolves him thus; [etc.].
†24.
a. transitive. To advise (a person) to do something. Also with subordinate clause: to give advice to (a person) regarding something. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > advice > advise [verb (transitive)]
redeOE
rothec1175
beredea1225
counsel1297
informc1350
richc1400
accounsel1509
persuade1525
vise1528
underprompt1548
aread1559
resolve1579
direct1776–81
1579 G. Fenton tr. F. Guicciardini Hist. Guicciardin x. 577 He..was nowe resolued [Fr. resolu] by discreete councell..to spare no liberalities nor offers of money to reduce them to his amitie.
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII (1649) 395* He was resolv'd by his Counsel rather to weary and famish the Emperors Army.
1656 T. Burton Diary (1828) I. 32 I would have the Committee to resolve you how you will proceed.
b. intransitive. To consult, take counsel. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > advice > give advice [verb (intransitive)] > consult or take advice
redeeOE
to take (in early use (i-)nim) redeOE
rulea1387
advisea1393
takec1450
take1480
resolve1591
preconsult1606
to have (also take) under advisement1735
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 123 It behoves, ere that into the race We enter, to resolve first hereupon.
a1629 W. Hinde Faithfull Remonstr. (1641) xviii. 56 He made them sometimes as his counsellours, to advise, conferre, consult, and resolve with them, in matters of conscience.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 303 Let us retreat out of their View or Hearing, least they awake, and we will resolve further.
25. transitive. With clause as object: to decide or establish conclusively; to conclude. Also in passive with it as subject.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > settlement of dispute, arbitration > settle, arbitrate [verb (transitive)]
redeOE
to-dealc1275
deraignc1330
determinec1380
award1393
decidec1400
decise?a1425
decernc1425
discernc1425
arbitrea1513
deema1513
moder1534
resolve1586
divide1596
arbitrate1597
fit1600
moderate1602
umpire1609
sopite1628
appointa1631
determinate1647
issue1650
settle1651
to cut the melon1911
1586 Earl of Leicester Corr. (1844) 401 The surgion doth fully resolue..he is without danger for this blowe.
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 40 They all beheld this place with great wonder, Parselius resoluing it was some Enchauntment.
1642 J. March Argument Militia 18 It is resolved by the Judges..that the King may well hold his Parliament..without the Spirituall Lords.
a1729 J. Rogers 19 Serm. (1735) iii. 49 This Happiness, it was presently resolved by all.., must be some one uniform End,..attainable by every Man.
1735 Lives Most Remarkable Criminals I. 354 I..could not resolve..whether these humorous gentlemen..were to be ranked under the Denomination of Knights Errants, or plain robbery.
1818 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. (ed. 2) II. 309 It was resolved, that the remainder limited to B. was good.
1842 Cole Westm. Abbey 107 Whether or not they [sc. mandates] were executed, our antiquaries have not yet resolved.
1883 W. Black Shandon Bells I. iii. 76 He resolved that it was now too late for doubt.
1916 Outlook (N.Y.) 5 July 552/1 The plain people of Mexico resolved that there was nothing divine about the order which fattened the few at the cost of the many.
1969 Eng. Hist. Rev. 84 504 They [sc. the House of Lords] resolved that there had been a plot.
2003 R. A. Gabriel Mil. Hist. Anc. Israel iii. 63 Although the habiru were..an important factor in Egyptian and Israelite history, further research has not completely resolved that they were not the Hebrews.
IV. To determine or fix upon a course of action.
26.
a. To determine or decide upon (a course of action, something to be achieved or brought about, etc.); to make (something) one's firm intention.
(a) transitive. With simple object, or (more commonly) with clause as object (usually preceded by that).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide upon [verb (transitive)]
to take (in early use (i-)nim) to redeeOE
redeOE
to take (in early use (i-)nim) redeOE
to bring to stallc1275
rewardc1380
perfix1415
determ1423
concludec1430
prefix?1523
resolve1523
affix1524
devise1548
pitch?1567
purpose1574
to resolve with oneself1578
to set down1582
settle1596
determinea1616
decision1877
predetermine1884
1523 King Henry VIII in J. O. Halliwell Lett. Kings Eng. (1846) I. 284 We..have resolved and determined that..ye shall then have our letters of discharge.
1594 W. Shakespeare Titus Andronicus ii. i. 106 So must you resolue, That..You must perforce accomplish as you may. View more context for this quotation
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iii. iii, in Wks. I. 557 It shall be done, that's resolu'd . View more context for this quotation
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 21 They resolved that the Admirall should goe disguised..to assure himselfe of the fact.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 830 Confirm'd then I resolve, Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe. View more context for this quotation
1759 W. Robertson Hist. Scotl. (1761) (ed. 4) II. vii. 151 Elizabeth resolved that no circumstance of pomp or solemnity should be wanting.
1781 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall III. xxix. 125 As soon as they had resolved his death, they condescended to flatter his pride.
1819 P. B. Shelley Cenci iii. i. 42 All must be suddenly resolved and done.
1842 R. I. Wilberforce Rutilius & Lucius 265 He had seen enough of the Christians to resolve that nothing should induce him to stain his hands with their blood.
1870 J. J. McCloskey & O. D. Byron Across Continent in L. Grover et al. Davy Crockett & Other Plays (1940) 105 I resolved I would lead such a life no longer, and I became a gambler.
1952 T. Armstrong Adam Brunskill ix. 305 She sternly resolved that, if she really were to be a support to her uncle, she must take herself in hand.
1996 J. Lanchester Debt to Pleasure (1997) 4 I resolved that I would jot down my thoughts on the subject of food as I went.
(b) transitive. With infinitive as object. Also reflexive, with infinitive complement, in same sense.
ΚΠ
1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes ii. f. 238 Thei had purposed and fully resolued to murdre hym, when he should nexte bee in dooyng sacrifice.
1596 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent (rev. ed.) sig. A2v I resolued (for sundrie iust respectes) to begin first with that Shire.
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. iii. 347 Shall we resolue to woe these gyrles of Fraunce? View more context for this quotation
1600 E. Blount tr. G. F. di Conestaggio Hist. Uniting Portugall to Castill 25 Solliciting Sebastian to resolue himselfe either to enter or be excluded.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage viii. iii. 744 He..committed many errours, especially in resoluing to winter in that desolate place.
1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata To Rdr. 10 So they fell to words and at last..they resolved to kill one another.
1707 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husbandry 427 I resolved to cut a Cart-way..to carry off both my Wood and Timber.
1761 F. Sheridan Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph III. 312 Having resolved himself to attend him as far as Harwich, he would, at the hour appointed, call on him in a coach.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. viii. 32 She resolved to acquaint Madame La Motte with the purport of the late conversation.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. iii. 252 At one time he had resolved..to give way.
1879 W. H. Dixon Royal Windsor I. ii. 15 He resolved to take the Scottish invader in a trap.
1920 A. Carnegie Autobiogr. x. 140 I resolved to leave the service of the railway company and devote myself exclusively to my own affairs.
1966 M. Pei How to learn Langs. 92 If you resolve to learn a language, you must grit your teeth and stick at it.
1988 Amer. Art Jrnl. 20 75/1 He finally resolved himself to remain while La Farge painted.
2005 T. Umrigar Space between Us (2007) xii. 132 Bhima resolves to ask Serabai for the name of some strength tonic for the girl.
b. intransitive, and transitive (reflexive). To come to a firm decision in regard to future action or intention; to determine to do something.
(a) With on or upon; formerly also †of, †in.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide [verb (reflexive)]
appointc1386
castc1386
purposec1390
determine1393
devise1393
delibera1413
resolvea1528
settle1530
to resolve with oneself1578
formalizea1656
a1528 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) I. App. 57 We desired his Ho[liness] that it wold please hym schortely to resolve hymself therin.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VI f. clxxxv These two great lordes, resoluinge them selfs vpon this purpose,..entered the citie of London.
1586 C. Marlowe Tamburlaine: 1st Pt. ii. vi Since..He dares so doubtlessly resolve of rule.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iii. xi. 9 I haue my selfe resolu'd vpon a course, Which has no neede of you. View more context for this quotation
1649 Bp. J. Taylor Great Exemplar i. v. iii. 90 After..the punitive part of repentance is resolved on, and begun, and put forward..we then enter into the illuminative way of religion.
1660 S. Pepys Diary 23 Jan. (1970) I. 26 This day the Parliament..resolved of the declaration to be printed for the people's satisfaction.
1706 W. Nicolson London Diaries 30 Jan. (1985) 367 He..was there informed (and convinced) that the Conclave had resolved on his Death.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia IV. viii. vii. 294 Cecilia..had still the..good sense..to resolve upon making the best use [etc.].
1809 Susan II. 103 Mrs. Howard..immediately resolved in going with him.
1837 T. Hook Jack Brag III. v. 180 He resolved upon having a strong reinforcement of comestibles.
1872 1st Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1871–2 289 He who sets out to subdue a piece of quack must resolve on no half-way measures.
1934 ‘J. Field’ Life of One's Own vi. 96 When what I had resolved upon did not happen I thought it must be due to some inherent weakness.
1951 Times 3 Aug. 7/1 Anderson..resolved himself upon a gallant attack, and, with Stedman..keeping his end up, they achieved the task.
1975 N. Lucas Mod. Hist. Israel xv. 380 Ben-Gurion had resolved on pre-emptive military action in the autumn of 1955.
1992 E. Pearce Election Rides iii. 29 We resolve upon lunch at the Cutty Sark pub.
†(b) Without construction. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide [verb (intransitive)]
choosec1320
definec1374
to take advisementa1393
appointc1440
conclude1452
to come to (an) anchor?1473
deliber1485
determine1509
resolvea1528
rest1530
deliberate1550
point1560
decide1572
to set (up) one's rest1572
to set down one's rest1578
to make account1583
to fix the staff1584
to take a party1585
fadge1592
set1638
determinate1639
pitch1666
devise1714
pre-resolve1760
settle1782
to make up one's mind1859
a1528 in J. Strype Eccl. Memorials (1721) I. App. 62 I desired his Ho[liness] to resolve hymself without delay or difficultie.
1581 P. Wiburn Checke or Reproofe M. Howlets Shreeching f. 59v Hee resolueth generally euen like himselfe,..and for fornication particularly.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons Ded. 8 To know, how of himselfe..with valour to resolue and performe.
1597 F. Bacon Of Coulers Good & Euill f. 20v, in Ess. As he sayth well, Not to resolue, is to resolue, and many times it..ingageth as farre in some other sort as to resolue.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 97 Thus he resolv'd, but first..His bursting passion into plaints thus pour'd. View more context for this quotation
1748 J. Thomson Castle of Indolence ii. lxii Resolve! resolve! and to be men aspire!
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 107 So after resolving, and re-resolving, I had courage enough to tell her my mind.
a1859 J. Austin Lect. Jurispr. (1879) I. xxi. 452 When such expressions as ‘resolving’ and ‘determining’ are applied to a present intention to do a future act.
c. transitive. to resolve with oneself: = sense 26a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide upon [verb (transitive)]
to take (in early use (i-)nim) to redeeOE
redeOE
to take (in early use (i-)nim) redeOE
to bring to stallc1275
rewardc1380
perfix1415
determ1423
concludec1430
prefix?1523
resolve1523
affix1524
devise1548
pitch?1567
purpose1574
to resolve with oneself1578
to set down1582
settle1596
determinea1616
decision1877
predetermine1884
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide [verb (reflexive)]
appointc1386
castc1386
purposec1390
determine1393
devise1393
delibera1413
resolvea1528
settle1530
to resolve with oneself1578
formalizea1656
1578 G. Best True Disc. Passage to Cathaya i. 45 He determined and resolued wyth himselfe, to go make full proofe thereof.
1588 J. Udall True Remedie v. 86v The prophet..resolueth with himselfe, that though they regard not their owne good, yet will hee continue his care ouer them.
1624 E. Bolton Nero Caesar 140 It must necessarily precede, that he resolued with himselfe, not to issue out to fight with Boadicia.
1710 Ld. Shaftesbury Soliloquy 1 I have resolv'd with my self, that the Maxim might be admitted.
1743 H. Fielding Jonathan Wild iii. ii, in Misc. III. 196 Am I so absolutely their Master, that I can resolve with myself, so far only will I grieve?
1823 J. Galt Ringan Gilhaize I. 122 My grandfather resolved with himself to depart betimes for Kilmarnock, in case of any change in his temper.
1859 H. B. Stowe Minister's Wooing xvii. 277 He had inly resolved with himself that he would give Candace his opinion.
1908 E. Phillpotts Mother 396 Seriously he resolved with himself to destroy Northmore.
†d. intransitive. To decide to set one's course for a place, destination, etc. Also (occasionally) transitive (reflexive) in same sense. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide upon [verb (transitive)] > decide on setting out for a place
resolvea1592
a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. D3 [They] Haue in their iests resolued for Oxford towne.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 ii. iii. 67 I will resolue for Scotland. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Fletcher Noble Gentleman iv. iv, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Ff/1 Tell me, have you resolv'd your selfe for Court?
a1643 W. Cartwright Ordinary (1651) v. v. 88 Let's swear Fidelity to one another, and So resolve for New England.
1700 ‘An Apothecary’ Devil's Journey to London 9 This mighty Prince..Resolves for London now what ere betide.
1740 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 2) VII. 261 He resolved for Sicily, which would open him a passage into Africa.
1760 Impostors Detected II. iv. iii. 189 We were obliged to separate, and every one take his chance... As for me I resolved for Lisbon.
e. transitive. Of an event or circumstance: to make (a person) resolved or determined to do something. Also with on.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide upon [verb (transitive)] > cause to decide or make resolute
firm1303
formalize1599
determine1672
resolve1814
1814 J. H. Merivale Orlando in Roncesvalles iii. 66 Smarting Pride contended with his fear, And half resolved him to abide the tempest hurrying near.
1836 R. Browning & J. Forster Life Strafford (1892) 15 The events of the interim had resolved the leaders of the house on abandoning the terms proposed.
1890 Sir C. Russell in Daily News 24 July 2/7 The knowledge of this marriage resolved Lord and Lady C...to send their son abroad.
a1902 S. Butler Way of All Flesh (1903) lxvii. 300 It was this that resolved him to part once and for all with his parents.
1933 A. Bryant S. Pepys (1934) iv. 80 He received such unmistakable signs of the spirit of the people as resolved him to wait no longer.
2005 A. J. Hacikyan et al. Heritage Armenian Lit. 875 This episode resolved him to learn his native tongue.
27.
a. transitive. Esp. of a deliberative body or meeting: to determine formally as a resolution (resolution n.1 15a); to adopt or pass as a resolution.Usually with that-clause as object; frequently in passive with it as subject (also with ellipsis of it and the auxiliary verb to be).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolve or decide upon [verb (transitive)] > adopt or pass as a resolution
resolve1563
1563 Orig. Jrnls. House of Commons 21 Jan. 1 f. 219 Yt is resolved that Mr Speaker shall direct hys letter in the name of the house to come and [etc.].
1590 Articles against Cartwright in T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. (1655) ix. 201 At some of such meetings..it was resolved..that such..conferences in severall Shires should be erected.
1604 Orig. Jrnls. House of Commons 26 June 3 f. 325v Resolved vpon further mocion, that Mr. Speaker..should present thanks to his matie.
1641 in E. Nicholas Papers (1886) I. 10 It was resolved that there shalbe on ye 7th of September next a publique thanksgiving for this good accord betweene ye 2 nacions.
1706 in Acts & Resolves Mass. Bay (1895) VIII. 721 Resolved That the sum of three hundred & fifty Pounds, be allowed..to Mr Thomas Oakes the memorialist.
1781 G. Cockings Amer. War v. 124 They [sc. Congress] resolved, ‘That the embarkation of Lieutenant-general Burgoyne, and the army under his command, be suspended till [etc.]’.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 253 Resolved unanimously, that this meeting..entertains the most firm conviction that [etc.].
1835 Baptist Mag. July 282/1 The following Resolutions were resolved unanimously.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. ii. 175 The Commons began by resolving that every member should, on pain of expulsion, take the sacrament [etc.].
1905 S. Dill Roman Society (ed. 2) ii. iii. 275 The meeting..formally resolved that the honourable Julianus should be requested to accept the distinction.
1970 Music Educators Jrnl. 56 85/2 Therefore, be it resolved that we..do nominate John Philip Sousa to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.
1995 Methodist Recorder 3 Aug. 3/3 A special meeting..resolved that one of its five ministerial appointments..be devoted exclusively to outreach among young people in the circuit.
†b. transitive. To put (a person) out of a condition by passing a resolution. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > change to something else, transformation > transform [verb (transitive)] > out of
resolve1798
the mind > mental capacity > memory > effacement, obliteration > cancellation, revocation > annul, cancel, revoke [verb (transitive)] > by voting
unvote1658
resolve1798
1798 I. Allen Nat. & Polit. Hist. Vermont 237 The inhabitants of Vermont had lived in a state of independence.., and could not now submit to be resolved out of it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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