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nonviolence

American  
[non-vahy-uh-luhns] / nɒnˈvaɪ ə ləns /

noun

  1. absence or lack of violence; state or condition of avoiding violence.

  2. the policy, practice, or technique of refraining from the use of violence, especially when reacting to or protesting against oppression, injustice, discrimination, or the like.

nonviolence British  
/ nɒnˈvaɪələns /

noun

  1. abstention from the use of physical force to achieve goals

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nonviolent adjective

Etymology

Origin of nonviolence

First recorded in 1830–35; nonviolence def. 2 was brought into prominence by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920–25, and again by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1955–60; non- + violence; possibly a loan translation of Sanskrit ahiṃsā; ahimsa ( def. )

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.