REN'ITENCE, REN'ITENCY, noun [Latin renitens, renitor, to resist; re and nitor, to struggle or strive.] 1. The resistance of a body to pressure; the effort of matter to resume the place or form from which it has been driven by the impulse of other matter; the effect of elasticity. 2. Moral resistance; reluctance. We find a renitency in ourselves to ascribe life and irritability to the cold and motionless fibers of plants.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI