Resistance
late Middle English: from French résistance, from late Latin resistentia, from the verb resistere ‘hold back’ (see resist).
wiktionary
From earlier resistence, from Middle English resistence, from Old French resistence, from Latin resistentia.
Morphologically resist + -ance.
etymonline
resistance (n.)
mid-14c., resistence, "moral or political opposition;" late 14c., "military or armed physical opposition by force; difficulty, trouble," from Old French resistance, earlier resistence, and directly from Medieval Latin resistentia, from present-participle stem of Latin resistere "make a stand against, oppose" (see resist).
From 1580s as "power or capacity of resisting." The meaning "organized covert opposition to an occupying or ruling power" [OED] is from 1939. The electromagnetic sense of "non-conductivity" is from 1760. Also used in science and engineering with a sense of "force exerted by a medium to retard motion through it," hence the figurative phrase path of least resistance "easiest method or course" (1825), earlier a term in physical sciences and engineering.
