resistance English · revision 4586

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-14th century|origins=la resistere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /rɪˈzɪs.təns/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|resistence]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|resistance]], earlier resistence,^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and directly [[der|la-med|resistentia]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from the present participle stem of Latin resistere “to make a stand against, oppose, hold back”,^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) the source of [[resist]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Moral or political opposition: the mid-14th century in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) the act of resisting, by persons: 1417 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Armed opposition by force, and difficulty or trouble, are from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The power or capacity to resist is from 1590 (the 1580s in Etymonline).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The opposition of one material thing to another is from 1625,^(OED 1989) and in the physical sciences the opposition of a body or medium to motion from 1656.^(OED 1989) The electrical sense, opposition to the passage of a current, is from 1760.^(Etymonline) The ''line of least resistance'' is from 1865, also figuratively.^(OED 1989) In psychoanalysis, unconscious opposition to bringing repressed memories into consciousness is from 1905.^(OED 1989) Organized covert opposition to an occupying or ruling power, as ''the Resistance'' in occupied France, is from 1939.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Resistance of an organism to disease or a drug is a later sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * mid-14th century – moral or political opposition.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1417 – the act of resisting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1590 – the capacity to resist.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1656 – in physics.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1760 – electrical resistance.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1865 – ''line of least resistance''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1905 – in psychoanalysis.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1939 – an underground movement.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of [[resist]]ing, or the ability to resist.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A force that opposes or slows motion: ''air resistance''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(physics)'' The opposition of a conductor to the flow of electric current, measured in ohms; also a [[resistor]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The ability of an organism to withstand disease or the effects of a drug.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An underground organization fighting for liberation in an occupied country.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[resistant]]

+ * [[nonresistance]]

+ * [[piece de resistance]]

+ * [[resistance thermometer]]

+ * [[passive resistance]]

+ * [[resistance training]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[resist]]

+ * [[resistor]]

+ * [[assist]]

+ * [[insist]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}