Resilience

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈzɪl.ɪ.əns/

Definitions

1. The ability to recover quickly from difficulties, setbacks, or challenging circumstances and return to normal functioning
2. The capacity to adapt and bounce back effectively from adversity, hardship, or trauma while maintaining overall stability and performance
3. A trait that enables individuals to withstand and recover from stress, obstacles, or emotional challenges while preserving their well-being and functionality

Etymology: Resilience comes from Latin "resiliō," meaning "to spring back" or "to rebound," and its original picture is physical: a ball bouncing off a wall, a bent branch snapping upright, a stretched material returning to shape. The Latin verb is built from "re-," meaning "back," and a root associated with leaping, so the image was of something jumping back to where it started. English took the root and added the suffix "-ence," a common ending for forming nouns of state or quality from Latin verbs, so "resilience" names the quality of springing back. The word's psychological sense, the ability to recover from hardship or emotional strain, grew out of this physical image, with the mind imagined as something that can rebound from pressure as a spring or a sprung object does.

Synonyms: flexibility, adaptability, recoverability

Antonyms: fragility