"power of lasting or continuing in the same state, resistance to decay or dissolution," late 14c., from Old French durabilité and directly from Late Latin durabilitatem (nominative durabilitas), noun of quality from Latin durabilis "lasting, permanent," from durare "to harden," from durus "hard," from PIE *dru-ro-, suffixed variant form of root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast."
"dense scrub or brushwood in a Mediterranean land," 1858, from French maquis "undergrowth, shrub," especially in reference to the dense scrub of certain Mediterranean coastal regions, long the haunts of outlaws and fugitives, from Corsican Italian macchia "spot," from Latin macula "spot, stain" (see macula). The landscapes were so called from their mottled appearance. Used figuratively of French resistance in World War II (1943). A member is a maquisard.
early 15c., "to drive away, remove, quench" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French repeller and directly from Latin repellere "to drive back," from re- "back" (see re-) + pellere "to drive, strike" (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrust, strike, drive").
The sense of "encounter (an invader, etc.) with effectual resistance, resist, oppose" is from mid-15c. The meaning "to affect (a person) with distaste or aversion" is by 1817. Related: Repelled; repelling.
narrow land passage along the Malian Gulf in ancient Greece, from Greek thermos "hot" (from PIE root *gwher- "to heat, warm") + pylai, plural of pylē "gate; mountain pass, entrance into a region" (see pylon). In reference to nearby hot sulfur springs. Often simply hai pylai "the gates." Figurative of heroic resistance against overwhelming numbers since the battle fought there between the Greeks and Persians in 480 B.C.E.
"forcible resistance of or revolt against constituted authority on the part of subordinates," especially "a revolt of soldiers or seamen against their commanding officers," 1560s, with noun suffix -y (4) + obsolete verb mutine "revolt" (1540s), from French mutiner "to revolt," from meutin "rebellious," from meute "a revolt, movement," from Vulgar Latin *movita "a military uprising," from fem. past participle of Latin movere "to move" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). The Mutiny on the Bounty took place in 1789.
"to attack persistently, worry, pester," 1790, from badger (n.), based on the behavior of the dogs in the medieval sport of badger-baiting, still practiced in late 19c. England as an attraction to low public houses. Related: Badgered; badgering.
A badger is put into a barrel, and one or more dogs are put in to drag him out. When this is effected he is returned to his barrel, to be similarly assailed by a fresh set of dogs. The badger usually makes a most determined and savage resistance. [Century Dictionary]
1620s, "stiffness, inflexibility," especially in mechanics, "resistance to change of form;" 1620s, from Latin rigiditas "stiffness," from rigidus "hard, stiff, rough, severe" (see rigid). By 1650s as "strictness, severity," but rigidity tends to be used of physical stiffness, while rigor is more active or moral. Rigidness (1640s) "perhaps holds a middle position" [Century Dictionary].
Rigidity is directly opposed to flexibility, and only indirectly to malleability and ductility, which depend chiefly on relations between the tenacity, the rigidity, and the limit of elasticity. [Century Dictionary]
