Resistance | Vocabulary | Khan Academy

2m read

·Nov 10, 2024

What's up, wordsmiths? This video is about the word "resistance."

It's a noun; it means opposition, an effort to stop or fight something or someone. We could say the developers wanted to turn the community garden into a parking lot, but they were stopped by stiff resistance from the neighborhood. No, don't! Yay for gardens! Right?

The community tried hard to stop the developers; they resisted the plan.

Derivation time! This word ultimately comes from Latin word parts. So, "re," meaning back, again, or against, and "sistere," meaning to stand firm, to stay put. So, to resist something, to express your resistance, is to stand firm against it consistently, again and again.

Take the next 10 seconds to think of some English words that contain either of those elements, either "re" or "cyst." Ready? Let's go! [Music]

Here are some that I thought of:

"Persist," which means to continue through a difficult situation. "Per" means through, right? You stick with it; you stay put through difficulty.

"Renew," which is to start something again or make something new again, like renewing a checkout from the library.

Or "insist," which is to make a forceful demand, to stand firm about something. Right? I insist on my right to a glazed donut!

Let's use "resistance" in a couple of sentences:

Professor Insidious could not poison Ms. Excellent because of her legendary resistance to toxins. That's a superhero I just made up; that's her thing. She can't be poisoned; she's highly resistant to poisons! Ooh, that's a good one!

Uh, let's use the adjective form, "resistant." Put on an "ant" ending there.

When they offered to fly me across the country, I was resistant at first. That's our adjective form: I was resistant. I didn't want to do it; I opposed it. I exhibited resistance.

I hope that you do not exhibit resistance to learning, dear wordsmiths, because I remain confident that you can learn anything.

David out!

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