Reticence is an unwillingness to say much. Natural reticence, overcome his reticence, a certain reticence.
It is about disclosure rather than volume, so a reticent person may talk a great deal and tell you nothing. It is often admired in English culture and read as coldness elsewhere.
1nounreticenceAn unwillingness to say much.
“Despite his reticence, we eventually got him to tell us about his childhood.”
reticence is a reserve.
Latin reticentia comes from reticere, to keep silent, from re- plus tacere, to be silent.
Proto-Indo-European
*te(H)k-
Proto-Indo-European
*tak-
Latin
reticentia — act of keeping silent, silence; aposiopesis
Middle French
réticence — act of keeping silent, silence; reserve; aposiopesis
English, today
reticence
Built from
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. Reticēns is the present active participle of reticeō (“to keep silent; to keep secret, conceal”), from re- + 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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA