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recusant: msg#00015

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Subject: recusant

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The Word of the Day for November 16 is:

recusant \RECK-yuh-zunt\ adjective
: refusing to submit to authority

Example sentence:
Several recusant senators refused to vote along party lines.

Did you know?
In 1534, Henry VIII of England declared himself the head of
the Church of England, separating it from the Roman Catholic
Church, and the resultant furor led to increased attention
focused on people's religious observances. A "recusant" was
someone who (from about 1570-1791) refused to attend services of
the Church of England, and therefore violated the laws of
mandatory church attendance. The word derives from the Latin
verb "recusare," meaning "reject" or "oppose." The
adjective "recusant" has been in use since the early 17th
century. Originally, it meant "refusing to attend the services
of the Church of England," but by the century's end, both the
adjective and the noun were also being used generally to suggest
resistance to authority of any form.






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