Resilient
/rɪˈzɪliənt/noun
Able to recover quickly from difficulty or spring back into shape after being bent, stretched, or compressed.
Did you know?Resilient comes from Latin resiliēns, the present participle of resilīre, meaning “to leap back” or “rebound,” and it originally described physical motion before becoming a metaphor for emotional strength.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sel-
“To jump, leap, or move suddenly.”
Latin
Latin
salīre
“To leap or jump.”
Latin
Latin
resilīre
“To leap back, recoil, or rebound.”
Latin
Latin
resiliēns
“Leaping back; recoiling.”
16th Century
English
resilient
“Rebounding or springing back; later, able to recover quickly.”
Modern English
English
resilient
“Able to recover quickly from setbacks or return to its original form.”