Etymology

calcitrant

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Today it means: stubborn; refractory Full definition →

Latin calcitrans
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcalcitrans
  2. English todaycalcitrant

From Latin calcitrans, present participle of calcitrare (“to kick”), from calx (“heel”), calcis (“heel”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.