recusant
- adjective
- /ˈrɛkjʊzənt/
- Archaic
:
recusante
- During the English Reformation, many Catholic families were labeled as recusant for not attending the established Church services.
Examples
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The recusant Catholics faced persecution for their refusal to conform to the Church of England during the 16th century.
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I find it curious, however, that The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare makes mention of a Richard Chomeley who was the patron of a group of "recusant players" who toured Yorkshire from 1606 to 1616 and performed "Pericles" and "King Lear."
Blog text (7) -
Study the recusant Church in England!
Blog text (1) -
In discussions about religious history, the term recusant often refers to those Catholics who resisted the reforms imposed by the Church of England.
Synonyms
Disagreeing with the majority or with official opinion
Antonyms
How Defiant
Surface Forms
Morphology
recusant = recus + ant
The element 'recus-' is a Latin combining form rather than a familiar standalone English base, and the learned suffix '-ant' does not yield a meaning that an average B1 learner can reliably derive from known English morphemes.
Etymology
Recusant comes from the Latin verb recusare, which means 'to refuse'. In history it named Catholics who refused to attend Church of England services after the Reformation, so the word now brings to mind someone who will not follow an official church or its rules.