obstinate

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English obstinat,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Latin obstinātus (“resolute, determined, stubborn”),^[6][7][4] the past participle of obstinō (“to persist, stand stubbornly, set one's mind on”).^{[6][7][2][3][4]} The Latin verb is formed from ob- and -stin-,^[8][9] a form of earlier *-stan-,^[3][10][4] related to stō (“to stand”),^[6][3][7][5] from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand”).^[2][4] The OED compares Anglo-Norman obstinat and Middle French obstinat, recorded from about 1450 and, as osteinat, from about 1350.^[6] Weekley instead derived the verb from obstō, comparing obstacle,^[11] and Klein compares destine.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Holding firmly to an opinion or course of action in spite of argument or entreaty: about 1387, in a sermon by T. Wimbledon,^[6] which Barnhart also dates to probably 1387,^[3] and late 14th century in Etymonline.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first sense, and Johnson (1755) observed that used absolutely it has "an ill sense", but used relatively it is neutral.^[12] The noun obstinacy followed before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis, from Medieval Latin obstinacia.^[3] From 1559 the adjective was also used of things: stiff or hard to remove, and in medicine of a condition that persists in spite of treatment.^[6] A rare sense "reluctant" is recorded from before 1439 to 1748.^[6] A noun, an obstinate person or animal, appears in 1435 and is now rare, and Latin too used obstinatus as a noun.^[6] A verb obstinate existed as well: in the passive, to be made stubborn, from before 1450 to 1663, and reflexively, after Middle French obstiner, from 1588 to 1864.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1387 – adjective, stubborn, inflexible.^[6][3]
• 1435 – noun, an obstinate person or animal.^[6]
• before 1439 – reluctant (rare, last recorded 1748).^[6]
• before 1450 – verb, in the passive, to be made stubborn.^[6]
• 1559 – of things, unyielding or hard to deal with; in medicine, resisting treatment.^[6]
• 1588 – reflexive verb, to set oneself against something (last recorded 1864).^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Holding firmly to an opinion or course of action in spite of argument or persuasion; stubborn: He stayed obstinate through all his family's pleading.^[8][5][6]
2. Hard to overcome, remove or cure; persistent: an obstinate cough.^[8][5][6]

Noun

1. (rare) An obstinate person or animal.^[6][13]

Verb

1. (rare) To make someone obstinate.^[5][13]

Word family

• obstinately
• obstinateness
• obstinacy

Related words

• stand
• state
• destine
• obstacle

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press