reluctance
[ri-luhk-tuh ns]
- unwillingness; disinclination: reluctance to speak in public.
- Electricity. the resistance to magnetic flux offered by a magnetic circuit, determined by the permeability and arrangement of the materials of the circuit.
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Sometimes re·luc·tan·cy.
Origin of reluctance
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for reluctancy
Historical Examples
The two men bowed, Richard with reluctancy, the Captain with easy bonhomie.
The Black MothGeorgette Heyer
But oh, with what reluctancy did I feel myself obliged to consume time in sleep!
The Palm Tree BlessingW. E. Shepard
Or he may deprive himself of some lesser advantages in life by his reluctancy in putting himself forward.
Hiding his reluctancy, Cooper left his seat and advanced toward the doorway.
The Substitute PrisonerMax Marcin
reluctance
less commonly reluctancy
- lack of eagerness or willingness; disinclination
- physics a measure of the resistance of a closed magnetic circuit to a magnetic flux, equal to the ratio of the magnetomotive force to the magnetic flux
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for reluctancy
reluctance
n.
1640s, "act of struggling against," from obsolete verb reluct "to struggle or rebel against" (1520s), from Latin reluctari "to struggle against, resist, make opposition," from re- "against" (see re-) + luctari "to struggle, wrestle," perhaps shares a common origin with Greek lygos "pliant twig," lygizein "to bend, twist," Old English locc "twist of hair" (see lock (n.2)). Meaning "unwillingness" is first attested 1660s. Related: Reluctancy (1620s.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper