recusant

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

noun

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
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

rec′u·sancy noun

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.

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