Etymologically
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résister

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʁe.zis.te/[1]

Forms

résister[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin resistō (“to stop; to stand facing; to resist”), from re- with intensive and opposing force and sistō (“to set; to stand firm”), a derivative of stō (“to stand”).[2][3][4][5] Bloch and Wartburg give a first, unclear record about 1240; the TLFi starts from a Reims document of 1327.[6][3][2] Littré remarks that the word was made in the 14th century without regard to the Latin accent.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A document of 1327 in the Reims archives uses it for opposing force to the use of force by an authority.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

About 1350 Gilles li Muisis uses it for resisting by war and for setting one's will against another's;[2][3] Oresme (1370) has it for rebelling against an authority.[2][3] The Ménagier de Paris (about 1393) uses it of a woman who resists advances, and Racine (1672) of struggling against one's own desires.[2][3]

Of things, the senses “not to give way under a force” and “not to deteriorate” are from the 16th century (Amyot, 1559), as is “to withstand hardship” of living beings.[3][4] Under the German occupation of 1940 it took the political sense of joining the Resistance.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1240 – An unclear first record.[6]
  • 1327 – “To resist force”, in a Reims document.[2]
  • c. 1350 – Military resistance, in Gilles li Muisis.[2]
  • c. 1393 – Of resisting advances, in the Ménagier de Paris.[2]
  • 1559 – Of things that do not give way, in Amyot.[3][4]
  • 1940 – Resistance to the German occupation.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Résister à: of things, to withstand, not to give way under: ces murailles épaisses ont résisté au séisme; not to be damaged by: un plat qui résiste au feu.[8][9]
  2. Of living beings, to hold out against: résister à la fatigue.[8]
  3. To resist, oppose by force: la ville a résisté pendant plusieurs mois.[7][10]
  4. To resist (a temptation, a desire); on ne peut lui résister, he or she is irresistible.[3][4]
  5. (history) To take part in the Resistance.[2][3]

Word family

  • résistance
  • résistant
  • irrésistible

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 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 300b
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)