RECALCITRANT
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 11:24 pm
• recalcitrant •
Pronunciation: ri-kæl-sê-trênt • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: 1. Unrelentingly defiant, rigidly obstinate or adamant, unwilling to give an inch, immovable, perversely refractory or intractable. 2. Unruly, ungovernable, willful, headstrong.
Notes: Today's word is related to the verb recalcitrate, which originally meant, not to dig the heels in, but to kick backwards, like the proverbial obstinate jackass. The attitude itself is recalcitrance, though some very articulate folks insist on recalcitrancy. We are not recalcitrant on the issue and accede to their wishes.
In Play: The mind of a stubborn person may be changed but once we become recalcitrant, persuasion does not work: "Unfortunately, the boss has taken a recalcitrant position (sense 1) against playing computer games during business hours." Let us hope the boss does not encounter a recalcitrant employee (sense 2) who insists on game breaks when staring at the screen for hours leaves her eyes crossed.
Word History: This word comes to us from Late Latin recalcitrant-, the present participle of recalcitrare "to be disobedient". In classical Latin this verb meant "to kick back", based on re- "back" + calcitrare "to kick" from the noun calx, calc- "heel". The root turns up in many Indo-European languages, usually referring to a joint: Russian koleno "knee", German Hals "neck", Greek skelis "hip, thigh". In English we find it in a verb that merged with shelve: shelve "to slope gradually". (Today's Good Word is a gift from the recalcitrant William the Mysterious of the Alpha Agora, who adamantly refuses to release his family name.)
Pronunciation: ri-kæl-sê-trênt • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: 1. Unrelentingly defiant, rigidly obstinate or adamant, unwilling to give an inch, immovable, perversely refractory or intractable. 2. Unruly, ungovernable, willful, headstrong.
Notes: Today's word is related to the verb recalcitrate, which originally meant, not to dig the heels in, but to kick backwards, like the proverbial obstinate jackass. The attitude itself is recalcitrance, though some very articulate folks insist on recalcitrancy. We are not recalcitrant on the issue and accede to their wishes.
In Play: The mind of a stubborn person may be changed but once we become recalcitrant, persuasion does not work: "Unfortunately, the boss has taken a recalcitrant position (sense 1) against playing computer games during business hours." Let us hope the boss does not encounter a recalcitrant employee (sense 2) who insists on game breaks when staring at the screen for hours leaves her eyes crossed.
Word History: This word comes to us from Late Latin recalcitrant-, the present participle of recalcitrare "to be disobedient". In classical Latin this verb meant "to kick back", based on re- "back" + calcitrare "to kick" from the noun calx, calc- "heel". The root turns up in many Indo-European languages, usually referring to a joint: Russian koleno "knee", German Hals "neck", Greek skelis "hip, thigh". In English we find it in a verb that merged with shelve: shelve "to slope gradually". (Today's Good Word is a gift from the recalcitrant William the Mysterious of the Alpha Agora, who adamantly refuses to release his family name.)