n.1 the avoidance of saying all one knows or feels, or of saying more than is necessary; reserve in speech.
2 a disposition to silence; taciturnity.
3 the act or an instance of holding back some fact.
4 abstinence from overemphasis in art.
Derivatives:
reticent adj. reticently adv.
Etymology: L reticentia f. reticere (as RE-, tacere be silent)