Resisting

How to spell resisting

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce resisting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does resisting mean?

1. verbWithstanding, opposing, or refusing to give in to something.

Resisting in a sentence

• He kept resisting the urge to check his phone during the meeting.

• The new coating is good at resisting rust on outdoor furniture.

Where does resisting come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb resist, which English took from the Latin verb resistere, meaning literally 'to stand back' or 'to stand against'. That verb was built from the prefix re-, carrying the sense of 'back' or 'against', joined to sistere, 'to take a stand' or 'to make stand', itself a form of stare, 'to stand'. English borrowed resist through Old French resister in the late 1300s, originally in the sense of withstanding or opposing a force. The same sist root, all about standing firm, surfaces in a family of relatives such as 'insist', 'persist', and 'assist', which is a useful clue to the single s in the middle. Spelling slips usually come from the soft, almost lazy second syllable, where the s can be heard as a z; remembering the stand-firm root and the cousins like 'persisting' keeps it on track.

How the word is built

• re- (back, against)
• sist (from Latin sistere: to stand, take a stand)
• -ing (present participle suffix)