Resistance (-ans), n.
Etymology: [F. résistance, LL. resistentia, fr. resistens, - entis, p. pr. See Resist.]
1. The act of resisting; opposition, passive or active. When King Demetrius saw that . . . no resistance was made against him, he sent away all his forces. 1. Macc. xi. 38.
2. (Physics)
The quality of not yielding to force or external pressure; that power of a body which acts in opposition to the impulse or pressure of another, or which prevents the effect of another power; as, the resistance of the air to a body passing through it; the resistance of a target to projectiles.
3. A means or method of resisting; that which resists. Unfold to us some warlike resistance. Shak.
2 more senses
4. (Elec.)
A certain hindrance or opposition to the passage of an electrical current or discharge offered by conducting bodies. It bears an inverse relation to the conductivity, -- good conductors having a small resistance, while poor conductors or insulators have a very high resistance. The unit of resistance is the ohm. Resistance box (Elec.), a rheostat consisting of a box or case containing a number of resistance coils of standard values so arranged that they can be combined in various ways to afford more or less resistance. -- Resistance coil (Elec.), a coil of wire introduced into an electric circuit to increase the resistance. -- Solid of least resistance (Mech.), a solid of such a form as to experience, in moving in a fluid, less resistance than any other solid having the same base, height, and volume.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for resistance; he lists it under defense.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.