Lewis & Short

rĕ-solvo, solvi, sŏlūtum, 3, v. a., to untie, unfasten, unbind; to loose, loosen, release, open (not freq. till after the Aug. per.; cf.: relaxo, resero, recludo, libero).

  1. I. Lit.
    1. 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.
    2. B. In partic.
      1. 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. 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.
  2. II. Trop.
    1. 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.
    2. B. In partic. (acc. to I. B.).
      1. 1. To relax, soften: disciplinam militarem, Tac. H. 1, 51: judices, Quint. 4, 2, 19; id. 8, prooem § 12.
      2. 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.
      3. 2. Free, unhampered: os, Val.Max. 8, 7, ext. 1.
      4. 3. Unbridled: gaudia, Sil. 11, 305.
        Adv.: rĕsŏlūtē, without restraint: quo resolutius decachinnetis, more unrestrainedly, Tert. ad Nat. 1, 19.