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re·sis·tance

(rĭ-zĭstəns)

1. The act or an instance of resisting or the capacity to resist.

2. A force that tends to oppose or retard motion.

3. often Resistance An underground organization engaged in a struggle for national liberation in a country under military or totalitarian occupation.

4. Psychology A process in which the ego opposes the conscious recall of anxiety-producing experiences.

5. Biology

a. Ability (of an organism, tissue, or cell) to withstand a destructive agent or condition such as a chemical compound, a disease agent, or an environmental stressor: antibiotic resistance; resistance to fungal diseases; drought resistance.

b. Lack of normal response to a biologically active compound such as a hormone: insulin resistance.

6. Electricity The opposition of a body or substance to current passing through it, resulting in a change of electrical energy into heat or another form of energy.

7. Thermal resistance.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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