address resolution

from The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)

address resolution

   <networking> Conversion of an {Internet address} into the
   corresponding physical address ({Ethernet address}).  This is
   usually done using {Address Resolution Protocol}.

   The {resolver} is a library routine and a set of processes
   which converts {hostnames} into {Internet addresses}, though
   this process in not usually referred to as {resolution}.  See
   {DNS}.

   (1996-04-09)