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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[Cf. F.

desistance

The act or state of desisting; cessation.

[R.]

Boyle.

If fatigue of body or brain were in every case followed by

desistance

. . . then would the system be but seldom out of working order.

H. Spencer.

Noun.

A ceasing to act or proceed; a stopping.

desistance ‎(plural desistances)

(rare) The act or state of desisting; cessation.
- 1890, Henry James, The Tragic Muse:
  [O]n one side she was defended by the wall of the room and on the other rendered inaccessible by Miriam's mother, who clung to her with a quickly-rooted fidelity, showing no symptom of desistance.