recreant


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rec·re·ant

 (rĕk′rē-ənt)
adj.
1. Unfaithful or disloyal to a belief, duty, or cause: "Consider the man who stands by his duty and goes to the stake rather than be recreant to it" (Mark Twain).
2. Archaic Craven or cowardly.
n.
1. A faithless or disloyal person.
2. Archaic A coward.

[Middle English recreaunt, defeated, from Old French recreant, present participle of recroire, to yield in a trial by combat, surrender allegiance, from Medieval Latin recrēdere, to yield, pledge : Latin re-, re- + Latin crēdere, to believe; see kerd- in Indo-European roots.]

rec′re·ance, rec′re·an·cy n.
rec′re·ant·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

recreant

(ˈrɛkrɪənt)
adj
1. cowardly; faint-hearted
2. disloyal
n
a disloyal or cowardly person
[C14: from Old French, from recroire to surrender, from re- + Latin crēdere to believe; compare miscreant]
ˈrecreance, ˈrecreancy n
ˈrecreantly adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rec•re•ant

(ˈrɛk ri ənt)

adj.
1. cowardly.
2. unfaithful; disloyal.
n.
3. coward.
[1300–50; < Old French, adj., n., present participle of recreire to yield in a contest =re- re- + creire < Latin crēdere to believe]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.recreant - an abject coward
coward - a person who shows fear or timidity
2.recreant - a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.recreant - a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.
quitter - a person who gives up too easily
Adj.1.recreant - having deserted a cause or principle; "some provinces had proved recreant"; "renegade supporters of the usurper"
disloyal - deserting your allegiance or duty to leader or cause or principle; "disloyal aides revealed his indiscretions to the papers"
2.recreant - lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful; "the craven fellow turned and ran"; "a craven proposal to raise the white flag"; "this recreant knight"- Spenser
cowardly, fearful - lacking courage; ignobly timid and faint-hearted; "cowardly dogs, ye will not aid me then"- P.B.Shelley
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

recreant

adjectivenoun
A person who has defected:
Informal: rat.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

recreant

(archaic) [ˈrekrɪənt]
A. Ncobarde mf
B. ADJcobarde
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

recreant

(liter)
n (= coward)Memme f; (= traitor)Verräter(in) m(f)
adj (= cowardly)memmenhaft; (= traitorous)verräterisch
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
References in classic literature ?
But why should man seek glory, who of his own Hath nothing, and to whom nothing belongs But condemnation, ignominy, and shame-- Who, for so many benefits received, Turned recreant to God, ingrate and false, And so of all true good himself despoiled; Yet, sacrilegious, to himself would take That which to God alone of right belongs?
A recreant of James's time was momentarily perverted from his religion by the arguments of that great theologian, and the fortunes of the family somewhat restored by his timely weakness.
The outer room through which they had to pass, was full of men; among them, Mr Dennis in safe keeping; and there, had been since yesterday, lying in hiding behind a wooden screen which was now thrown down, Simon Tappertit, the recreant 'prentice, burnt and bruised, and with a gun-shot wound in his body; and his legs--his perfect legs, the pride and glory of his life, the comfort of his existence--crushed into shapeless ugliness.
"John of Hordle," he thundered, "you have shown yourself during the two months of your novitiate to be a recreant monk, and one who is unworthy to wear the white garb which is the outer symbol of the spotless spirit.
Sleepy old brother Athanasius, at the porter's cell, had a fleeting vision of twinkling feet and flying skirts; but before he had time to rub his eyes the recreant had passed the lodge, and was speeding as fast as his sandals could patter along the Lyndhurst Road.
And how shows this recreant conduct in a man on whom unequal laws are known to have fallen heavy?
When little Vladimir finally relinquished her, with assurances that he was `desolated to leave so early', she was ready to rest, and see how her recreant knight had borne his punishment.
Take it, or I pro- claim you recreant knights and vanquished, every one!"
all the curses due to traitors upon your recreant heads, do you abandon me to perish thus miserably!
And yet the sick man was whole for the time being; the virile spirit was once more master of the recreant members; and it was with illogical relief that I found those I sought standing almost unconcernedly beside the binnacle.
"Then I will," and, to the dismay of both recreant lads, Dr.
Recreant par-la meme la longue remontee dynamique de jadis des pastoraux Imazighen, depuis les marches sahariennes du Tafilalt jusqu'aux plaines du Gharb.