recusant Hear it!

recusant Definition

recu·sant (rekyo̵o zənt, ri kyo̵̅o̅zənt)

noun

  1. a person who refuses to obey an established authority; specif., in England in the 16th to 18th cent., a Roman Catholic who refused to attend the services of the Church of England or to recognize its authority
  2. any dissenter or nonconformist

Etymology: L recusans, prp. of recusare, to reject < re-, against + causari, to dispute, pretend < causa, reason, cause

adjective

of or like a recusant

recusant Related Forms

recu·sancy noun

recusant Usage Examples

Possessives

land: Suggestions on the form of grants to be issued by the King, of the profits of recusants ' lands.

Converse of object

  • convict: Draft of the oath offered by the convicted recusants.
  • imprison: Out of the 58 recusants imprisoned in the " Blockhouses " 40 died.
  • know: She was a daughter of Charles Selby, a well known recusant and Jacobite supporter.

Adjective modifier

  • popish: In the same year, John Wright and his wife, and servant Thomas Haward and his wife, were convicted as Popish recusants.
  • Elizabethan: NS 110 The Lancashire Elizabethan recusants ( by J. Stanley Leatherbarrow, 1947 ).
  • Catholic: Additional Justices of the Peace were appointed in all areas of England who produced Recusancy lists which supplied the government details of Catholic recusants.

Modifies a noun

  • family: The fear of catholic plots against the King meant that many recusant families were under observation by the government.
  • history: This vade mecum is intended for the students of recusant history.
  • community: Perhaps the two composers intended them for use by the recusant Catholic community.
  • priest: Persons was probably the recusant priest most " wanted " by the Government.

Browse dictionary entries near recusant

  1. recusal
  2. recurve
  3. recurvate
  4. recursive
  5. recursion
  6. recurring decimal
  7. recurrent
  8. recurrence
  9. recur
  10. recuperate
  1. recuse
  2. recycle
  3. red
  4. red admiral
  5. red alert
  6. red algae
  7. Red Angus
  8. red ant
  9. red blood cell
  10. red-blooded