contumacies

Variant of contumacy

noun pl. contumacies

stubborn refusal to submit to authority, esp. that of a law court; insubordination; disobedience

Origin: ME contumacie < L contumacia < contumax, haughty, stubborn < com-, intens. + tumere, to swell up: see tumor

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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