RESOLUTION  , a word used in the two

main senses, separation and decision, of the verb " to resolve " (Lat. resolvere, to loose, unfasten), to separate anything into its constituent elements or component parts, hence, through the subsidiary meaning of to clear up doubts or difficulties, to settle, determine . The principal applications of the term in its first sense are to the separation of a body into its component parts by chemical process, or, to the eye, by the lens of a microscope or telescope; similarly, in mathematics, to the analysis of a velocity, force, &c., into components . In the second sense, beyond the general meaning of determination, firmness of character, a " resolution " is specifically a decision of opinion formally submitted to a legislative or other assembly and adopted or rejected by votes .