nonconformity
[non-kuh n-fawr-mi-tee]
- failure or refusal to conform, as with established customs, attitudes, or ideas.
- lack of conformity or agreement.
- (often initial capital letter) refusal to conform to the Church of England.
- Geology. an unconformity that separates crystalline rocks, either igneous or metamorphic, from sedimentary rocks.
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Origin of nonconformity
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
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Historical Examples
“And that price of non-conformity is too high,” he completed steadily.
A Breath of Prairie and other storiesWill Lillibridge
Prosecutions for non-conformity were enforced with the utmost severity.
The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.].Hartley Withers
The foibles of their youth are still to be traced in faulting and non-conformity.
In the OpenStanton Davis Kirkham
He removed to Boston in May, 1644, being probably one of those who were driven away from Virginia for non-conformity.
History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of VirginiaCharles Campbell
He was ordered before the Bishop, Dec. 12, 1631, to answer for his non-conformity.
The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in AmericaTheodore de la Guard
nonconformity
- failure or refusal to conform
- absence of agreement or harmony
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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
Word Origin and History for non-conformity
n.
also nonconformity, 1610s, coined in English from non- + conformity. Originally of Church of England clergymen who refused to conform on certain ceremonies.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper