resilience

Etymology

The OED takes it as probably partly borrowed from New Latin resilientia (“the fact of avoiding”), recorded from before 1540 (the sense "rebounding" is found in Latin a little later), and partly formed from resilient, though that is recorded slightly later, or from its Latin source, with the suffix -ence.^[2] Other dictionaries derive it directly from Latin resiliēns, the present participle of resiliō (“to rebound, recoil”), with -ence.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The Latin verb is formed from re- (“back”) and saliō (“to jump, leap”),^[3] and is also the source of resile;^[2] Etymonline compares result.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of rebounding or springing back: 1626, in Francis Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum.^[2][5][3] Etymonline notes that it was often used of immaterial things.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The literal sense of rebounding lasted until the 19th century (last recorded 1866).^[2] In 1656 Blount's Glossographia gave the rare sense of going back on one's word.^[2] The physical sense of elasticity, the power of a body to regain its shape after being compressed or bent, is recorded from 1807, in Thomas Young;^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate date it to 1824.^[3][8] In 1858 Rankine used it in mechanics for the energy per unit volume that a strained material absorbs.^[2][7] A figurative sense of recoiling or revolting from something appeared in 1838 and is now rare.^[2][7] The modern main sense, the ability to recover quickly from misfortune, shock or illness, is recorded from 1857;^[2] Etymonline dates the matching figurative use of resilient, of people "bouncing back" from difficulties, to 1830.^[3] Collins also gives an ecological sense, the ability of an ecosystem to return to its former state after a disturbance.^[9]

Timeline

• 1626 – the act of rebounding or springing back (obsolete by 1866).^[2]
• 1656 – going back on one's word (rare, obsolete).^[2]
• 1807 – elasticity.^[2]
• 1838 – recoiling or revolting from something.^[2]
• 1857 – the ability to recover quickly from misfortune.^[2]
• 1858 – mechanics, the energy absorbed by a strained material.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The ability to recover quickly from misfortune, illness, shock or change: The town showed great resilience after the flood.^{[10][5][2][9]}
2. The property of a material that lets it return to its original shape after being bent, stretched or compressed; elasticity.^{[10][8][2][9]}
3. (physics) The energy per unit volume that a material absorbs when it is strained, or stores when deformed.^[2][7][9]
4. (ecology) The ability of an ecosystem to return to its former state after a disturbance.^[9]
5. (obsolete, 1626–1866) The act of rebounding or springing back.^[2][7]

Related words

• resile
• resiliency
• resilient
• result
• salient

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin