recusant

[ rek-yuh-zuh nt, ri-kyoo-zuh nt ]

/ ˈrɛk yə zənt, rɪˈkyu zənt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR recusant ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

refusing to submit, comply, etc.

obstinate in refusal.

English History. refusing to attend services of the Church of England.

noun

a person who is recusant.

English History. a person, especially a Roman Catholic, who refused to attend the services of the Church of England.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of recusant

1545–55; < Latin recūsant- (stem of recūsāns), present participle of recusāre to demur, object, equivalent to re- re- + -cūsāre, verbal derivative of causa cause; see -ant

Related formsun·rec·u·sant, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for recusant

Then better off than he were savages, who could destroy their recusant idols.
Idolatry|Julian Hawthorne
One parent or uncle, by altering a will, can cause a Romish recusant more loss than a whole army of pursuivants.
The Life of a Conspirator|Thomas Longueville
Then Michel walked into the kitchen as though he were about to fetch the recusant himself.
The Golden Lion of Granpere|Anthony Trollope
The difficulties about the recusant colonel's appointment48 began to vanish like magic.
Monk|Julian Corbett

She saw nothing, yet the foresight of the 303 carbine was recusant, it declined to get down into the nick, and a miss resulted.
Unexplored Spain|Abel Chapman

British Dictionary definitions for recusant

recusant

/ (ˈrɛkjʊzənt) /

noun

(in 16th to 18th century England) a Roman Catholic who did not attend the services of the Church of England, as was required by law

any person who refuses to submit to authority

adjective

(formerly, of Catholics) refusing to attend services of the Church of England

refusing to submit to authority

Derived Formsrecusance or recusancy, noun

Word Origin for recusant

C16: from Latin recūsāns refusing, from recūsāre from re- + causārī to dispute, from causa a cause

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 recusant

recusant

adj.

"obstinate in refusal," 1550s, from Latin recusantem (nominative recusans) "refusing to obey," present participle of recusare "make an objection against; decline, refuse, reject; be reluctant to" (see recuse). The noun meaning "one obstinate in refusing" is from 1610s.