resolution

[ rez-uh-loo-shuhn ]
See synonyms for: resolutionresolutions on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.: Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.

  2. the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.

  1. a resolve; a decision or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.Her resolution to clear her parents' name allowed her no other focus in life.

  2. the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose: She showed her resolution by not attending the meeting.

  3. the act or process of resolving or separating something into constituent or elementary parts.

  4. the resulting state.

  5. Optics. the act, process, or capability of distinguishing between two separate but adjacent objects or sources of light or between two nearly equal wavelengths.: Compare resolving power.

  6. a solution, accommodation, or settling of a problem, controversy, etc.

  7. Music.

    • the progression of a voice part or of the harmony as a whole from a dissonance to a consonance.

    • the tone or chord to which a dissonance is resolved.

  8. reduction to a simpler form; conversion.

  9. Medicine/Medical. the reduction or disappearance of a swelling or inflammation without suppuration.

  10. the degree of sharpness of a computer-generated image as measured by the number of dots per linear inch in a hard-copy printout or the number of pixels across and down on a display screen.

Origin of resolution

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin resolūtiōn-, stem of resolūtiō “looseness, a release” equivalent to resolute + -ion

Other words for resolution

Other words from resolution

  • non·res·o·lu·tion, noun
  • pre·res·o·lu·tion, noun

Words Nearby resolution

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use resolution in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for resolution

resolution

/ (ˌrɛzəˈluːʃən) /


noun
  1. the act or an instance of resolving

  2. the condition or quality of being resolute; firmness or determination

  1. something resolved or determined; decision

  2. a formal expression of opinion by a meeting, esp one agreed by a vote

  3. a judicial decision on some matter; verdict; judgment

  4. the act or process of separating something into its constituent parts or elements

  5. med

    • return from a pathological to a normal condition

    • subsidence of the symptoms of a disease, esp the disappearance of inflammation without the formation of pus

  6. music the process in harmony whereby a dissonant note or chord is followed by a consonant one

  7. the ability of a television or film image to reproduce fine detail

  8. physics another word for resolving power

Derived forms of resolution

  • resolutioner or resolutionist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012