Obduration

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of being emotionally or morally hardened and resistant to influence
2. A state characterized by stubbornness or inflexibility in attitude or feeling
3. Describes a quality of being unfeeling, rigid, or obstinate in nature

Etymology: "Obduration" comes from Latin "obduratio," a noun formed from "obdurare," meaning "to harden" or "to make hard." That verb combines "ob-," meaning "against" or "over," with "durare," "to last" or "to harden," which is also the source of English "endure" and "durable." The sense of hardness is literal before it is figurative: the Latin root describes something becoming firm or solid, and the moral sense of stubbornness grows out of that physical image. English took the word from Latin, and its meaning followed the same path. A person or heart that has become "obdurate" has hardened against feeling, persuasion, or pity, so the noun names that state of hardened resistance. The word stays close to its roots, so a reader who knows "endure" can work out much of its meaning from the parts.