Resolution Definition: One Word, Several Jobs

The main senses in the resolution definition

Most uses of the word fall into one of five groups. When people ask you to define resolution, start with the first and add the others as needed.

1. A personal decision. A promise you make to yourself, like a New Year's resolution to read more.
2. A formal decision by a group. A motion that a board, assembly or council votes to adopt.
3. The solving or ending of a problem. The resolution of a dispute, a complaint or a mystery.
4. Firmness of mind. Determination, as in "she spoke with quiet resolution."
5. Detail in an image or measurement. How many pixels a screen shows, or how fine a difference an instrument can detect.

There is also a sense used in stories and music: the point where tension settles, such as the final chapter that ties up a plot.

Resolution in everyday sentences

• My resolution this year is to cook at home four nights a week.
• The housing society passed a resolution to fix the lift before the monsoon.
• After three phone calls, the bank finally offered a resolution to my billing complaint.
• Upload the photo at a higher resolution so the faces are not blurry.
• The film builds for two hours, but the resolution feels rushed.

How to use it: verbs and pairings

The word sits comfortably with certain verbs. You make or keep a personal resolution, and you break it when you give up. Groups pass, adopt, table or reject one. Problems reach or come to a resolution. Screens and cameras have high or low resolution.

Common phrases include conflict resolution, dispute resolution, New Year's resolution, board resolution and screen resolution. The related verb is resolve: you resolve to do something, and a problem gets resolved. If a quarrel is the topic, our page on conflict shows how that word pairs with this one.

Untying the knot: word history

The word was borrowed from Latin resolutio, built on resolvere, "to loosen" or "to undo." In the late 1300s it meant breaking something down into simpler parts. By the 1580s it had gained the sense of firm purpose, and the meaning of a formal decision made by a meeting appears around 1600. The idea of untying a knot links all the senses: you untie a problem, and a sharper image separates details that would otherwise blur together.

Screen and camera resolution explained

For a display, resolution is usually written as width by height in pixels, such as 1920 by 1080. More pixels on the same size screen means finer detail. For printing, people talk about dots per inch. A small photo can look fine on a phone and grainy on a poster, because the poster stretches the same pixels across a much bigger area.

In science the word means the smallest difference a tool can detect. A microscope with better resolution lets you tell apart two points that sit very close together.

Mix-ups to avoid

Resolution vs solution. A solution is an answer to a problem; a resolution is the problem actually being settled. You can find a solution on paper long before the matter reaches resolution.

Resolution vs resolve. As nouns, both can mean determination, but resolve sounds stronger and more personal: "her resolve never weakened." Use resolution for a specific decision.

Resolution vs revolution. These look alike but are unrelated. A revolution is a sudden, deep change.

When firmness of mind is meant, close words include conviction and tenacity.

Where you will see it

In offices, a board resolution authorizes actions such as opening a bank account or signing a contract. In international news, assemblies of countries vote on resolutions. Customer service teams talk about resolution time. In India, housing societies and companies often pass resolutions at general meetings; in the US, cities and state bodies do the same. It belongs to plain, everyday vocabulary as much as to formal language.