Induracioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of becoming hard or firm in texture, or a hardened area of tissue ; stubborn unwillingness to yield or feel compassion
2. A growing firmness or stiffness in a material or body part ; a hardened state of mind marked by obstinacy and resistance to persuasion
3. The making or becoming hard of tissue or matter ; a rigid, unbending refusal to be moved by reason or pity

Etymology: "Endure" and "induration" are closer relatives than they look. Both come from Latin "indurare", "to make hard", built from "in-" and "durus", "hard". English "endure" arrived through Old French, where the sense of hardening had already faded toward "to bear up under", so to endure something came to mean standing firm against it rather than growing stiff. Induracioun is a Middle English spelling of "induration", a noun formed from the Latin "induratio", the process or state of becoming hard. Medieval writers used it for literal hardening, such as of tissue or clay, and also for a spiritual condition: a heart made stubborn and unresponsive to God.