recusant Hear it!

recusant definition

recu·sant (rek′yo̵o zənt, ri kyo̵̅o̅′zənt)

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

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.