Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Recreant
Rec′re-ant
(-ant)
, Adj.
[OF., cowardly, fr.
recroire
, recreire
, to forsake, leave, tire, discourage, regard as conquered, LL. recredere se
to declare one’s self conquered in combat; hence, those are called recrediti
or recreanti
who are considered infamous; L. pref. re-
again, back + credere
to believe, to be of opinion; hence, originally, to disavow one's opinion. See Creed
.] 1.
Crying for mercy, as a combatant in the trial by battle; yielding; cowardly; mean-spirited; craven.
“This recreant knight.” Spenser.
2.
Apostate; false; unfaithful.
Who, for so many benefits received,
Turned
Turned
recreant
to God, ingrate and false. Milton.
Rec′re-ant
,Noun.
One who yields in combat, and begs for mercy; a mean-spirited, cowardly wretch.
Blackstone.
You are all
recreants
and dastards! Shakespeare
Webster 1828 Edition
Recreant
REC'REANT
,Adj.
1.
Crying for mercy, as a combatant in the trial by battle; yielding; hence, cowardly; mean spirited.2.
Apostate; false.Who for so many benefits receiv'd, turn'd recreant to God, ingrate and false.
REC'REANT
,Noun.
Definition 2024
recreant
recreant
English
Adjective
recreant (comparative more recreant, superlative most recreant)
- (now rare, poetic) Having admitted defeat and surrendered; defeated. [from 13th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.11:
- For, from the day that he thus did it leave, / Amongst all Knights he blotted was with blame, / And counted but a recreant Knight with endles shame.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.11:
- (now poetic, literary) Unfaithful to someone, or to one's duties or honour; disloyal, false. [from 17th c.]
- 1671, John Milton, Paradise Regained, III:
- Turn'd recreant to God, ingrate and false.
- 1793, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Christabel:
- And let the recreant traitors seek / My tourney court […].
- 1890, Henry James, The Tragic Muse:
- Gabriel did not attack him however. He brought in only blandness and benevolence and a great content at having obeyed the mystic voice—it was really a remarkable case of second sight—which had whispered to him that the recreant comrade of his prime was in town.
- 1671, John Milton, Paradise Regained, III:
Derived terms
Noun
recreant (plural recreants)
- Somebody who is recreant. A person who yields in combat, or is cowardly and faint-hearted.
Synonyms
Anagrams
Dutch
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: re‧cre‧ant
Etymology
From Latin recreans, present participle of recreō (“I refresh; I invigorate”). Equivalent to recreëren + -ant.
Noun
recreant m (plural recreanten, diminutive recreantje n)
- someone who practices or enjoys recreation
References
- H. H. Mallinckrodt, Latijn Nederlands woordenboek (Aula n° 24), Utrecht-Antwerpen, Spectrum, 1959 [Latin - Dutch dictionary in Dutch]
Anagrams
Old French
Adjective
recreant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular recreant or recreante)
Descendants
- English: recreant (borrowed)
References
- (fr) Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (recreant)
- recreant on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub