elasticityn.
/iːlaˈstɪsɪti//ɛlaˈstɪsɪti/ The quality of being elastic.
1. In literal sense. Cf. elastic adj. 2, 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [noun] > elasticity
restitution1656
tensility1659
springiness1662
spring power1662
elasticity1664
bearing1674
spring1683
resiliency1712
resilience1807
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. iv. 175 The External and Internal Ayr were come to the same..Elasticity.
1674 W. Petty Disc. before Royal Soc. 119 Elasticity is the power of recovering the Figure, upon removal of such Force.
1685 R. Boyle Ess. Effects of Motion 111 The Elasticity that Iron, Silver and Brass acquire by hammering.
1721 in N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict.
1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. iii. 38 By its own elasticity returning..to its former position.
1834 M. Somerville On Connexion Physical Sci. (1849) xxv. 262 The elasticity or tension of steam..varies inversely as its volume.
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. ii. 35 Sufficient stress does not appear to have been laid on the elasticity of the spine.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. §16. 312 The substance, after stretching, being..devoid of that elasticity which would restore it to its original form.
2. figurative.
a. Energy, vigour, buoyancy of mind or character; capacity for resisting or overcoming depression. Cf. elastic adj. 3c.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > hope > optimism > [noun] > ability to endure adversity
elasticity1678
1678 J. Norris Coll. Misc. (1699) 232 This spring of my soul (my Appetitive Faculty)..presses and endeavours with its whole Elasticity.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad i. 172 Me, Emptiness and Dulness could inspire, And were my Elasticity, and Fire.
1815 W. Scott Guy Mannering I. xxi. 325 Nature had given him that elasticity of mind, which rises higher from the rebound.
1829 I. Taylor Nat. Hist. Enthusiasm (1867) iv. 72 To break the elasticity of the inventive faculty.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) V. 41 Our old men have lost the elasticity of youth.
b. Capacity for being ‘stretched’; expansiveness, flexibility, accommodatingness. Cf. elastic adj. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > [noun] > capability of
adaptability1661
flexibility1783
elasticity1801
adaptiveness1815
adaptableness1833
adaptivity1840
adjustability1849
1801 J. Austen Let. 8 Jan. (1995) 71 Appleshaw, that village of wonderful Elasticity, which stretches itself out for the reception of everybody who does not wish for a house on Speen Hill.
1858 O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table iii. 62 There is no elasticity in a mathematical fact.
1863 J. G. Murphy Crit. Comm. Bk. Gen. (iii. 22) 157 Good, evil, life, and death are striking specimens of this elasticity of signification.
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 17 Oct. 1 ‘Elasticity’, that is to say, a discretionary issue of bank-notes.
1874 J. Morley On Compromise 3 There are some common rules..but their application is a matter of..the widest elasticity.
c. Economics. Flexibility in supply or demand in response to variations in other factors.
ΚΠ
1925 S. E. Thomas Elem. Econ. iv. 37 The Elasticity and Inelasticity of Demand.
1959 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. 16 Mar. 797/1 Analysis of the interaction of beef, milk and feed prices and the elasticities in livestock production within the United Kingdom.
1966 A. Battersby Math. in Managem. ix. 232 The quantity ‘e’ is related to the economists' ‘elasticity of demand’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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