Search Result for "contumacy": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. willful refusal to appear before a court or comply with a court order; can result in a finding of contempt of court;

2. obstinate rebelliousness and insubordination; resistance to authority;


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Contumacy \Con"tu*ma*cy\ (k[o^]n"t[-u]*m[.a]*s[y^]), n.; pl. Contumacies (k[o^]n"t[-u]*m[.a]*s[i^]z). [L. contumacia, fr. contumax, -acis, insolent; prob. akin to contemnere to despise: cf. F. contumace. Cf. Contemn.] 1. Stubborn perverseness; pertinacious resistance to authority. [1913 Webster] The bishop commanded him . . . to be thrust into the stocks for his manifest and manifold contumacy. --Strype. [1913 Webster] 2. (Law) A willful contempt of, and disobedience to, any lawful summons, or to the rules and orders of court, as a refusal to appear in court when legally summoned. Syn: Stubbornness; perverseness; obstinacy. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

contumacy n 1: willful refusal to appear before a court or comply with a court order; can result in a finding of contempt of court 2: obstinate rebelliousness and insubordination; resistance to authority
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

CONTUMACY, civil law. The refusal or neglect of a party accused to appear and answer to a charge preferred against him in a court of justice. This word is derived from the Latin contumacia, disobedience. 1 Bro. Civ. Law, 455; Ayl. Parer. 196; Dig. 50, 17, 52; Code Nap. art. 22. 2. Contumacy is of two kinds, actual and presumed: actual contumacy is when the party before the court refuses to obey some order of the court; presumed contumacy is the act of refusing or declining to appear upon being cited. 3 Curt. Ecc. R. 1.