- recalcitrant (adj.)
- 1823, from French récalcitrant, literally "kicking back" (17c.-18c.), past participle of recalcitrare "to kick back," from re- "back" (see re-) + Latin calcitrare "to kick," from calx (genitive calcis) "heel." Used from 1797 as a French word in English. Verb recalcitrate "to kick out" is attested from 1620s; sense of "resist obstinately" is from 1759.