'Resolve' is Latin for 'loosen completely' — clarity that comes when a knotted problem is untangled.
Firm determination to do something.
From Latin 'resolvere' (to loosen, untie, release, dissolve), composed of 're-' (again, back, thoroughly) and 'solvere' (to loosen, to release, to free). The PIE root is *lew- (to loosen, divide, cut apart), also underlying Latin 'lūere' (to atone, to pay) and Greek 'lýein' (to loosen, dissolve). In Latin, 'resolvere' meant to untie completely — to break a thing down
'Resolve,' 'solve,' 'dissolve,' 'absolve,' and 'solution' all come from Latin 'solvere' (to loosen). To solve is to loosen a knot. To resolve is to loosen it completely. To dissolve is to loosen apart. To absolve is to loosen from guilt. A solution — whether chemical or intellectual — is 'something loosened.' All problem-solving is untying.