I.to untie, unfasten, unbind; to loose, loosen, release, open (not freq. till after the Aug. per.; cf.: relaxo, resero, recludo, libero).
I. Lit.
A. In gen.: “equos,” to unyoke, Ov. F. 4, 180; cf.: “juncta juga leonibus,” Cat. 63, 76: “quem suā sponte vinxerit, non resolvat, etc.,” Col. 1, 8, 16; 11, 1, 22: “cinctas vestes,” Ov. M. 1, 382; cf. “nodum,” Cels. 7, 4, 4: “fila,” to loose, separate, Ov. M. 2, 654: “vulnera,” to unbind, Quint. 6, 1, 30; 49: “oras,” to cast loose from the shore, Liv. 22, 19, 10 Drak. N. cr.: “virginem catenis,” i. e. to release, Ov. M. 4, 737; cf.: “crura vinclis,” id. A. A. 3, 272: “(puella) resoluta capillos,” id. Am. 2, 14, 39: “claustra,” to open, Lucr. 1, 415: “litteras,” Liv. 26, 15: “venas,” Tac. A. 6, 48: “jugulum mucrone,” Ov. M. 1, 227: “ferro,” id. ib. 6, 643: “manum in diversum,” Quint. 11, 3, 97: “fauces haec in verba,” Ov. M. 2, 282; cf.: “exspectato Ora sono,” id. ib. 13, 126: “fatis ora,” Verg. G. 4, 452; “and simply ora,” id. A. 3, 457: “ignis aurum resolvit,” melts, dissolves, Lucr. 6, 967: “nivem,” to melt, thaw, Ov. Tr. 3, 10, 13; cf.: “resolutus repente Rhenus,” Suet. Dom. 6: “margaritas in tabem,” Plin. 9, 35, 58, § 120: “glaebam in pulverem,” Col. 11, 2, 60: “nummos,” to melt down, Lampr. Alex. Sev. 30 fin. — Poet.: “nebulas ventis ac sole,” to disperse, dissipate, scatter, Ov. M. 14, 400; cf. “tenebras (sidere),” Verg. A. 8, 591: “resoluta caligo,” Sil. 5, 58: Zephyro se glaeba, becomes loose or soft, Verg. G. 1, 44; Curt. 4, 6, 11: “terra resoluta,” Col. 4, 1, 4; 11, 3, 5: “muros ariete,” to break down, Sil. 5, 553: “cinctos muros,” id. 12, 495: “saxa,” id. 1, 369. —
B. In partic.
1. To relax, unnerve, enervate, enfeeble the body (cf. remitto): “felicitas hos inflat, illos mollit et totos resolvit,” Sen. Ep. 36, 1: “(Cerberus) immania terga resolvit Fusus humi,” stretched out, Verg. A. 6, 422: “nexos artus,” id. ib. 4, 695: “utrumque (concubitus),” Ov. A. A. 2, 683: “corpus (somno),” id. M. 7, 328: “placitā resoluta quiete,” id. ib. 9, 468: “membra ad molles choros,” Prop. 2, 34 (3, 32), 42; Curt. 4, 16, 13: “fatigatione resolutus,” id. 6, 8, 21; 9, 5, 10.—
2. Mostly ante-class., to pay a debt: “minas,” Plaut. Ep. 1, 2, 39: “argentum,” id. ib. 3, 2, 16; id. Men. 5, 5, 30: “pro vecturā,” id. As. 2, 4, 27; cf. Cato, R. R. 144, 3; 145, 1; 148, 2: “damnum boni viri arbitratu resolvere,” id. ib. 149, 2. —
II. Trop.
A. In gen. (acc. to I. A.), to separate, unbind, set free, release; to disclose, show, reveal, lay open; to annul, cancel, make void, abolish, destroy (syn. rescindo): “ipsas periodos majoribus intervallis et velut laxioribus nodis resolvemus,” Quint. 9, 4, 127: “quoniam, quā fieri quicquid posset ratione, resolvi,” have disclosed, shown, Lucr. 5, 773: “teque piacula nulla resolvent,” release, Hor. C. 1, 28, 34: “amore resolutus,” Tib. 1, 10, 83: “(Hannibal) Quod sponte abscedat tandemque resolvat Ausoniam,” liberate, Sil. 17, 206: “resoluta legibus urbs,” id. 11, 36: “ira resoluta frenis legum,” Luc. 2, 145: “litem quod lite resolvit,” does away with, ends, Hor. S. 2, 3, 103: “invitat genialis hiems curasque resolvit,” banishes, dispels, Verg. G. 1, 302: “tristitiam animi,” Plin. 24, 6, 15, § 24: “dolos tecti ambagesque,” i. e. find the way through, Verg. A. 6, 29: “jura (pudoris),” id. ib. 4, 27: “dolos fraudesque,” Sil. 7, 153: “gaudia ferro,” id. 13, 508: “amphiboliam,” to destroy, remove, Quint. 7, 9, 4: “ambiguitatem,” id. 12, 2, 13: “dicta ex parte diversā,” i. e. refute, id. 5, 13, 12: “vectigal et onera commerciorum,” to abolish, Tac. H. 4, 65: “stipulationem,” Dig. 21, 2, 57 fin.: “conventionem,” ib. 41, 5, 2: “emptionem,” ib. 18, 2, 2 et saep. —
B. In partic. (acc. to I. B.).
1. To relax, soften: “disciplinam militarem,” Tac. H. 1, 51: “judices,” Quint. 4, 2, 19; id. 8, prooem § 12. —
2. To pay: “unā plagā (cf. I. B. 2. supra),” Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 73 (but in Cic. Phil. 14, 14, 38, the correct reading is persoluturum). — Hence, rĕsŏlūtus , a, um, P. a. (acc. to I. B. 1.), relaxed, enervated, effeminate: “corpora juvenum (with fluxa), Col. praef. § 17: minister Idaeo resolutior cinaedo,” Mart. 10, 98.—
2. Free, unhampered: os, Val.Max. 8, 7, ext. 1.—
3. Unbridled: “gaudia,” Sil. 11, 305.—Adv.: rĕsŏlūtē , without restraint: “quo resolutius decachinnetis,” more unrestrainedly, Tert. ad Nat. 1, 19.
