dissident (disident)

and n. [F. di i dent = Sp. disidente = Pg. di idente, Our life and manners be di ident from theirs. Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), ii. 9. 2. Di enting; not conforming; specifically, di enting from an established church. [Rare.] Di ident priests also give trouble enough. Carlyle . II. n. One who differs or di ents from others in regard to anything; especially, an opponent of or di enter from a prevailing opinion, method, etc. Two only out of forty-four canonists who were personally present... were found to deny that the marriage of Arthur and Katharine had been consummated. The names of the di idents , the particulars of the discu ions, are unknown. R. W. Dixon , Hist. Church of England, iii. The di idents are few, and have nothing to say in defense of their unbelief, except what is easily refuted as misapprehension, or want of logical consistency. Whitney, Life and Growth of Lang., p. 199. Specifically- ( a ) A di enter; one who separates from an established religion. Next year we hope a Catholic Oaths Bill will pa ; and then we shall find all the popular literature of the day deriding all countries where a political oath is exacted from di idents as the seats of the queerest old-fashioned bigotry. Saturday Rev., July 29, 1865. [The University of London) has not become, as many apprehended, a nursery for di idents and agnostics, or developed a novel and heretical school of opinion in ethics, history, or psychology. Quarterly Rev., CXXVII, 42. di ident Especially-(b) Under the old elective monarchy of Poland, when the established church was Roman Catholic, a Luther an, Calvin ist, Arm in i an, or adherent of the Greek Church, who was allowed the free exercise of his faith. I have a great opinion of the cogency of the controversial arguments of the Ru ian troops in favour of the dis sidents. Chesterfield, Letters, No. 410. li-sil'i-ens, -en-si), n. di ilience, di iliency (di-sil'i-er [