Resistibilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The qualities that make things capable of being opposed or withstood ; the varying levels of ability to fend off or repel an influence
2. States of being open to opposition or refusal ; the differing extents to which a force can be countered or held back
3. The conditions allowing something to be resisted ; the measured strengths of capacity to stand against or repel pressures

Etymology: "Resistibilities" is the plural of "resistibility", the noun for the quality of being able to be resisted. The plural is rarely needed, since English speakers usually treat "resistibility" as an uncountable quality, but it appears when writers want to speak of several such qualities or of different degrees of them. The base word is formed from "resistible", which combines "resist" with the suffix "-ible", meaning "able to be". "Resist" came into English from Old French "resister", itself from Latin "resistere", "to stand back against", built from "re-" meaning "back" and "sistere", "to stand". So the word's core image is of standing firm against a push.