Etymograph

English

recalcitrant

Recalcitrant comes from French récalcitrant ‘recalcitrant, rebellious’, from Latin recalcitrāre ‘be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]’, and ultimately from calx ‘heel’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalx‘heel’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErecalcitrāre‘be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]’next step skipped: Latin recalcitrō
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErecalcitrāns
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentrécalcitrant‘recalcitrant, rebellious’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1908recalcitrant

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcalx‘heel’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErecalcitrāre‘be disobedient, kick back [as a horse]’next step skipped: Latin recalcitrō
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErecalcitrāns
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presentrécalcitrant‘recalcitrant, rebellious’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1908recalcitrant

Earliest quotation: 1908, Edith Wharton, In Trust: “His nimble fancy was recalcitrant to mental discipline.”

Linked words

through Latin calx ‘heel’

chalk, calcium, quilt, calculus, counterpoint, causeway, caulk, calcareous, inculcate, calzone, calcite, 35 more

Today it means

adj Marked by a stubborn unwillingness to obey authority.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin calx / recalcitrant

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