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reluctance

 - 3 dictionary results

re⋅luc⋅tance

  [ri-luhk-tuhns]
Use reluctance in a Sentence
–noun
1. unwillingness; disinclination: reluctance to speak in public.
2. Electricity. the resistance to magnetic flux offered by a magnetic circuit, determined by the permeability and arrangement of the materials of the circuit.
Also, re⋅luc⋅tan⋅cy.

Origin:
1635–45; reluct(ant) + -ance
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To reluctance
re·luc·tance   (rĭ-lŭk'təns)   
n.  

  1. The state of being reluctant; unwillingness.

  2. Physics A measure of the opposition to magnetic flux, analogous to electric resistance.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

reluctance 
1641, "act of struggling against," from obsolete verb reluct "to struggle or rebel against" (1526), from L. reluctari "to struggle against," from re- "against" + luctari "to struggle." Meaning "unwillingness" is first attested 1667. Reluctant "unwilling" is recorded from 1706.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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