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reticence

noun
/ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/UK/ˈɹɛtəs(ə)ns/US

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Middle French réticence (“act of keeping silent, silence; reserve; aposiopesis”) (modern French réticence (“tight-lippedness, reticence”)), or derived from its etymon Latin reticentia (“act of keeping silent, silence; aposiopesis”), from reticēns (“keeping silent, reticent, silent; keeping secret, concealing”) + -ia (suffix forming feminine abstract nouns). Reticēns is the present active participle of reticeō (“to keep silent; to keep secret, conceal”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + taceō (“to be silent, keep quiet”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tak- or *tHk-). The English word is cognate with Italian reticenza (“reticence”), Portuguese reticência, Spanish reticencia (“reticence; reluctance”). The verb is derived from the noun.

  1. derived from *tak-✻
  2. derived from reticentia — “act of keeping silent, silence; aposiopesis”
  3. borrowed from réticence — “act of keeping silent, silence; reserve; aposiopesis”

Definitions

  1. Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much

    Avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much; discretion, tight-lippedness; (countable) an instance of acting in this manner.

    • [Y]ou paſſe ouer their teſtimonies, & his whole diſcourſe out of them, with a fraudulent reticence of the particulars, and thinke to be euen with them, making vp by ſcoffing, what you cannot by arguing, [...]
    • The painter's absurd fits of jealousy, his wild devotion, his extravagant panegyrics, his curious reticences—he understood them all now, and he felt sorry.

  2. A silent and reserved nature.

  3. Followed by of

    Followed by of: discretion or restraint in the use of something.

  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. Often followed by to

      Often followed by to: hesitancy or reluctance (to do something).

      • The honour of a household is inextricably linked to the reputation of the women who live there [...]. This reputation is sealed by their public display of shame, as manifest in a reticense towards appearing in public places.
      • Any reticence or wariness I felt for the Professor vanished the moment I saw him with my son, and from that point on I trusted him completely.

    2. Synonym of aposiopesis (“an abrupt breaking-off in speech”).

      • Oh! M. de Vieux, this elixir, and the gallows, will suit you … that you may know what it is to enjoy … / He was going to continue, or to be silent, after these reticenses, but Kant interrupted one or both of these things, [...]

    3. To deliberately not listen or pay attention to

      To deliberately not listen or pay attention to; to disregard, to ignore.

The neighborhood

Derived

irreticence, nonreticence

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for reticence. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA