# resolution

Pronunciation: say "rez-uh-LOO-shuhn" US /ˌɹɛzəˈluːʃ(ə)n/, UK /ˌɹɛzəˈl(j)uʃ(ə)n/

## Noun

1. A formal expression of opinion, intention, or decision adopted by an assembly or another formal meeting.
   - Simple: A formal statement that a group agrees on and adopts during a meeting.
   - _The United Nations adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire._
   - _Several resolutions were debated before the assembly broke for lunch._
2. The amount of detail an image, screen, or printer can show, usually measured in pixels or dots per inch.
   - Simple: How sharp and detailed a picture or screen is, often counted in pixels.
   - _Printers need a high resolution to reproduce fine detail in photographs._
   - _Designers exported the image at several resolutions for different devices._
3. A firm decision to do or not do something, whether a promise made to oneself or a decision reached officially, as by a board.
   - Simple: A strong decision to do or not do something, made by a person or officially by a group.
   - _After the accident, she came to a firm resolution never to drive at night._
   - _The directors reached a resolution to reject the takeover bid after hours of debate._
4. The act or process of solving something or working it out to a settled outcome.
   - Simple: The act of solving a problem or finding an answer.
   - _The resolution of the billing dispute took three months and several long calls with the company._
   - _Both sides hoped for a quick resolution of the dispute over unpaid wages._
5. The ability of an instrument, such as a telescope, microscope, or spectrometer, to distinguish fine detail or closely spaced features.
   - Simple: How well a tool like a telescope can show tiny details or tell apart things that are very close together.
   - _The telescope's resolution was high enough to separate the double star._
   - _Improved optics increased the resolution of the imaging system._
6. The moment in a narrative when the conflict ends and the outcome of the action becomes clear.
   - Simple: The point in a story where the main problem is solved and the ending becomes clear.
   - _The film's resolution ties up every loose thread in the final scene._
   - _A satisfying resolution rewards the reader for following the conflict._
7. Firmness of purpose; the quality of being determined and resolute.
   - Simple: Strong will and firm determination to do something.
   - _He pursued his goal with unwavering resolution._
   - _Her resolution never weakened, even when others gave up._
8. In music, the progression from a dissonant sound to a consonant one, or the chord that completes that progression.
   - Simple: In music, the move from a tense, clashing sound to a calm, settled one, or the chord it lands on.
   - _The suspended note finds its resolution on the tonic chord._
   - _A delayed resolution keeps the audience in suspense until the final bar._
9. The process of determining what a symbol or address refers to, and of carrying out the link to it.
   - Simple: The process a computer uses to match a name or address to the thing it points to.
   - _DNS resolution converts a hostname into its corresponding IP address._
   - _The linker performs symbol resolution before producing the final executable._
10. The separation of something into its constituent parts, as with a spectrum.
   - Simple: The act of breaking something into its separate parts, such as the colors in light.
   - _The instrument achieves a clean resolution of the spectrum into discrete lines._
   - _Resolution of the racemic compound yielded its two separate forms._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In medicine, the subsiding of inflammation or disease, as debris is cleared away and the tissue returns to normal.
- (noun) An exact sequence of modules or related objects that ends in a given object M; equivalently, a complex whose homology is M in degree zero and zero elsewhere.

## Origin

Latin resolvō ('to loosen'), made of the intensive prefix re- and solvō ('to loosen'), produced the noun resolūtiō ('a loosening, solution'). English had it by 1412 as Middle English resolucioun ('dissolution'), taken either through Anglo-Norman resolucion or straight from the Latin.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/resolution (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).