resilience meaning, definition, what is resilience: the ability to become strong, happy, or ...: Learn more. resilience is of multiple origins. Probably partly a borrowing from Latin. Probably either (i) partly a borrowing from Latin, combined with an English element. Or (iii) partly formed within English, by derivation. Etymons: Latin resilientia; resilient adj., ‑ence suffix; Latin resilient-, resiliēns, ‑ence suffix. As a character trait, resilience is a person’s ability to recover quickly from unfortunate circumstances or illness. Runners who fall during a marathon only to pop back up and dash through the finish line show some serious resilience. Resilience is the ability of people or things to recover quickly after something unpleasant, such as shock, injury, etc. Learn how to use this word in different contexts with pictures, pronunciation and usage notes.