reticence

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛtɪs(ə)ns/
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• Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /ˈɹɛtəs(ə)ns/
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• General-American: /-ɾə-/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• CMU ARPABET: R EH1 T IH0 S AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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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.

58 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Bulgarian: премълчаване (premǎlčavane) — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Catalan: reticència — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Finnish: vähäsanaisuus — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Finnish: harvasanaisuus — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• French: réticence — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Galician: reticencia — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• German: Reserviertheit — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• German: Schweigsamkeit — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Greek: εχεμύθεια (echemýtheia) — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Hindi: अल्पभाषिता (alpabhāṣitā) — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Hindi: मितभाषिता (mitbhāṣitā) — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Italian: reticenza — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Japanese: 寡黙 — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Norwegian Bokmål: forbeholdenhet — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Occitan: reticéncia — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Polish: małomówność — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Polish: dyskrecja — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Portuguese: reticência — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Russian: молчаливость (molčalivostʹ) — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Russian: немногословность (nemnogoslovnostʹ) — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Serbo-Croatian: шу̀тљиво̄ст — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Serbo-Croatian: ćutljivost — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Serbo-Croatian: šutljivost — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Spanish: reticencia — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Swedish: förtegenhet — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Turkish: susma — avoidance of saying or reluctance to say too much
• Bulgarian: сдържаност (sdǎržanost) — silent and reserved nature
• Bulgarian: резервираност (rezerviranost) — silent and reserved nature
• Finnish: jurous — silent and reserved nature
• Finnish: nyreys — silent and reserved nature
• Finnish: harvasanaisuus — silent and reserved nature
• Finnish: vähäsanaisuus — silent and reserved nature
• Finnish: ynseys — silent and reserved nature
• German: Zurückhaltung — silent and reserved nature
• Greek: σιωπηλότητα (siopilótita) — silent and reserved nature
• Māori: ahaaha — silent and reserved nature
• Norwegian Bokmål: fåmælthet — silent and reserved nature
• Norwegian Bokmål: taushet — silent and reserved nature
• Polish: małomówność — silent and reserved nature
• Russian: сде́ржанность (sdéržannostʹ) — silent and reserved nature
• Serbo-Croatian: пову̀чено̄ст — silent and reserved nature
• Serbo-Croatian: povučenost — silent and reserved nature
• Turkish: suskunluk — silent and reserved nature
• Bulgarian: въздържаност (vǎzdǎržanost) — discretion or restraint in the use of something
• Esperanto: malemeco — discretion or restraint in the use of something
• Norwegian Bokmål: forbeholdenhet — discretion or restraint in the use of something
• Norwegian Bokmål: tilbakeholdenhet — discretion or restraint in the use of something
• Polish: powściągliwość — discretion or restraint in the use of something
• Russian: сде́ржанность (sdéržannostʹ) — discretion or restraint in the use of something
• Catalan: reticència — hesitancy or reluctance
• Norwegian Bokmål: forbeholdenhet — hesitancy or reluctance
• Norwegian Bokmål: tilbakeholdenhet — hesitancy or reluctance
• Occitan: reticéncia — hesitancy or reluctance
• Polish: niechęć — hesitancy or reluctance
• Polish: wahanie — hesitancy or reluctance
• Portuguese: reticência — hesitancy or reluctance
• Spanish: reticencia — hesitancy or reluctance
• Spanish: reticencia — aposiopesis