obstinate

English
WOTD – 29 August 2008

Etymology

From Middle English obstinate, obstinat, from Latin obstinātus, past participle of obstinō (“set one's mind firmly upon, resolve”), from ob (“before”) + *stinare, from stare (“to stand”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɒb.stɪ.nət/, /ˈɒb.stɪ.nɪt/
  • (US) enPR: äb'stənət, IPA(key): /ˈɑb.stə.nət/, /ˈɑb.stə.nɪt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Hyphenation (US): ob‧sti‧nate

Adjective

obstinate (comparative more obstinate, superlative most obstinate)

  1. Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.
    • 1686, Montaigne, translated by Charles Cotton, "That men are justly punished for being obstinate in the defence of a fort that is not in reason to be defended",
      From this consideration it is that we have derived the custom, in times of war, to punish […] those who are obstinate to defend a place that by the rules of war is not tenable […]
    • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 21:
      […] the junior Osborne was quite as obstinate as the senior: when he wanted a thing, quite as firm in his resolution to get it; and quite as violent when angered, as his father in his most stern moments
  2. Said of inanimate things not easily subdued or removed.
    • 1927, Gandhi, translated by Mahadev Desai, An Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth, Part IV, Chapter XXIX,
      Now it happened that Kasturbai […] had again begun getting haemorrhage, and the malady seemed to be obstinate.

Synonyms

Derived terms
▼ <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs14 CategoryTreeLabelCategory' href='/wiki/Category:English_terms_derived_from_the_PIE_root_*steh%E2%82%82-' title='Category:English terms derived from the PIE root *steh₂-'>English terms derived from the PIE root *steh₂-</a>‎ (0 c, 35 e)
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/anhypostasia' title='anhypostasia'>anhypostasia</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/armistice' title='armistice'>armistice</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/enhypostasia' title='enhypostasia'>enhypostasia</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/estate' title='estate'>estate</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstinacy' title='obstinacy'>obstinacy</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstinance' title='obstinance'>obstinance</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstinancy' title='obstinancy'>obstinancy</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstinate' title='obstinate'>obstinate</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstinateness' title='obstinateness'>obstinateness</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/obstinence' title='obstinence'>obstinence</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/persistent' title='persistent'>persistent</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/rest' title='rest'>rest</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stable' title='stable'>stable</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stage' title='stage'>stage</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/staid' title='staid'>staid</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stalwart' title='stalwart'>stalwart</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stamen' title='stamen'>stamen</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stamina' title='stamina'>stamina</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stance' title='stance'>stance</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stand' title='stand'>stand</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/standing' title='standing'>standing</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stasis' title='stasis'>stasis</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/-stat' title='-stat'>-stat</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/state' title='state'>state</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/static' title='static'>static</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/station' title='station'>station</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stative' title='stative'>stative</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/status' title='status'>status</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stay' title='stay'>stay</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stead' title='stead'>stead</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/steadfast' title='steadfast'>steadfast</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/steatopygous' title='steatopygous'>steatopygous</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stool' title='stool'>stool</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/stow' title='stow'>stow</a>
  <a class='CategoryTreeLabel CategoryTreeLabelNs0 CategoryTreeLabelPage' href='/wiki/thermostat' title='thermostat'>thermostat</a>

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

obstināte

  1. vocative masculine singular of obstinātus

References
  • obstinate in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • obstinate in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • obstinate in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
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