The ability to keep going and not give up, especially during something difficult or tiring. It can refer to both physical and emotional strength over time.
From Old French *endurer* ('to make hard, to last'), from Latin *indurare* ('to harden'), from *in-* + *durus* ('hard'). The noun *endurance* developed to describe the quality of lasting through hardship.
Endurance isn’t just about muscles; it’s about how your mind talks to your body when things get hard. Training endurance is partly training your inner voice to say, 'We can keep going a bit more,' and actually believe it.
Endurance has been gendered in different ways: men have often been associated with physical endurance in sports and military contexts, while women’s endurance has been romanticized as quiet emotional or caregiving sacrifice. These framings can obscure women’s athletic achievements and men’s emotional labor.
Use 'endurance' for physical and emotional capacities across all genders, and avoid stereotypes about who is naturally more enduring.
["stamina","persistence","resilience"]
When discussing endurance in sports, work, or activism, highlight women’s and gender-diverse people’s documented achievements, which have often been minimized.
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