contumax

Latin

FWOTD – 25 October 2013

Etymology

Derived from contemnō (“I scorn, despise”) +‎ -āx (“inclined to”),^[1] or from con- +‎ tumēre (“to swell”) +‎ -āx.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.tu.maːks/, [ˈkɔn̪t̪ʊmäːks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkon.tu.maks/, [ˈkɔn̪t̪umäks]

Adjective

contumāx (genitive contumācis, comparative contumācior, adverb contumāciter); third-declension one-termination adjective

1. insolent, obstinate, stiff-necked, defiant
2. (law) who refuses to appear in a court of law, in disobedience of a summons
3. (of inanimate objects) unyielding, providing opposition

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	contumāx			contumācēs	contumācia
Genitive	contumācis			contumācium
Dative	contumācī			contumācibus
Accusative	contumācem	contumāx		contumācēs	contumācia
Ablative	contumācī			contumācibus
Vocative	contumāx			contumācēs	contumācia

Derived terms

• contumācia
• contumāciter
• percontumāx

Related terms

• contumēliōsē
• contumēliōsus

Descendants

• → Catalan: contumaç (learned)
• → English: contumacious
• → French: contumace (learned)
• → Italian: contumace (learned)
• → Portuguese: contumaz (learned)
• → Sicilian: cuntumaci (learned)
• → Spanish: contumaz (learned)

References

• “contumax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “contumax”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• contumax in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• contumax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

1. “contumax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press