rebus 
succession of bearings which make up the name 
or a word expressing the profession or office 
of the bearer. The origin of 
many bearings in early heraldry 
is such an allusion ; and on the 
other hand many proper names 
have been derived from the 
bearings, these having been 
granted originally to persons 
having a name or territorial 
designation which a descendant, 
perhaps of a younger branch, 
abandoned for the allusive sur- 
name suggested by the bearing : 
thus, in the case of the name 
Tremain, and the bearing of three human hands, either 
the bearing or the name may have originated the other. 
Also called allusive arms. 
Excellent have been the conceipt[s] of some citizens, 
who, wanting armes, have coined themselves certaine 
devices as neere as may be alluding to their names, which 
we call rebus. 
H. Peacham, The Gentleman's Exercise (1634), p. 155. 
KSkeat.) 
4995 
ii!i IP noneompliance or nonconformity; refrac- 
toriness. 
recalcitrant (re-kal'si-trant), . [= F. recal- 
citrant = U.rifiitcitrantc, ( TL*. recalcitran(t-)s, < 
recapitulation 
4. A musical call played on a drum, bugle, or 
trumpet to summon back soldiers to the ranks 
or to camp. 5. A signal-flag used to recall a 
boat to a ship. 
Rebus of Bishop Oldham 
' owldoin "), Exeter Cathe- 
,ral. 
recalcitrare, kick back: see recalcitrate.'] Be- recallable (re-kal'a-bl), a. [< recall + -able.] 
fusing to submit; exhibiting repugnance or op- Capable of being recalled, in any sense, 
position ; not submissive or compliant ; refrac- Delegates recallable at pleasure. Madison. 
The glow of a gorgeous sunset continues to be recalla 
recalcitrate (re-kal'si-trat), V.; pret. and pp. ble long after faintly coloured scenes of the same date have 
recalcitrated, ppr. recalcitrating. [< L. recalci- been forgotten. H. Spencer, Prln. of Psychol., 9. 
tratus, pp. of recalcitrare (> OF. recalcitrer, F. recallment, recalment (re-kal'ment), n. [< 
recalcitrer = Sp. Pg. recalcitrar = It. ricalci- recall + -ment.] The act of recalling, or the 
trare), kick back, deny access, < re-, back, + 
calcitrare, kick.] I. intrans. To show repug- 
nance or resistance to something; refuse sub- 
state of being recalled. [Bare.] 
mission or compliance; be refractory. 
Wherefore recalcitrate against that will 
From which the end can never be cut off? 
Lomjfellow, tr. of Dante's Inferno, ix. 94. 
H. trans. To kick against; show repugnance 
(b) A motto in which a part of the phrase is ex- or opposition to. [Bare.] 
pressed by representations of objects instead The more heartily did one dl8dain hja disdam and re _ 
of by words. In a few rare cases the whole motto is calcitrate his tricks. De Quincey. 
thus given. Such mottos are not commonly borne with , .. . . 
the escutcheon and crest, but form rather a device or im- recalCltratlOU (re-kal-si-tra'shon), . [< recal- 
citrate + -ion.] The act of recalcitrating ; op- 
presa, as the figure of a sun-dial preceded by the words "we 
must," meaning "we must die all." 
position; repugnance. 
You will have your rebus still, mine host. 
B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 1. 
rebus (re'bus), v. t. [< rebus, n.] To mark 
with a rebus ; indicate by a rebus. Fuller, Ch. 
Hist., IV. iv. 34. 
rebut (re-but'), v.; pret. and pp. rebutted, ppr. recalesce (re-ka-les'), v. i.-. pret. and pp. reca- 
rebutting. [Earlymod. ~E>.rebutte; < OF. rebouter, lesccd, ppr. recalescing. [< L. re-, again, + co- 
repulse, drive back, reject, F. rebouter, also 
Inwardly chuckling that these symptoms of recalcitra- 
tion had not taken place until the fair malecontent was, 
as he mentally termed it, under his thumb, Archibald 
coolly replied, "That the hills were none of his making." 
Scott, Heart of Mid- Lothian, xlL 
rebuter = Pr. rebotar = It. ributtare, repulse, re- 
ject; as re- + butt?.] I. trans. If. To repel 
by force; rebuff; drive back. 
He ... nislit upon him with outragious pryde ; 
Who him rencountring fierce, as hauke in flight, 
Perforce rebutted backe. Spenser, F. Q., I. xi. 53. 
Philosophy lets her light descend and enter wherever 
there is a passage for it; she takes advantage of the 
smallest crevice, but the rays are rebutted by the smallest 
obstruction. 
Landor, Imaginary Conversations (Epicurus, Leontion, and 
[Ternissa). 
2. To thrust back or away, as by denial ; re- 
fuse assent to ; repel ; reject. 
The compliment my friend rebutted as best he could, 
but the proposition he accepted at once. 
Foe, Tales, I. 218. 
3. To repel by evidence or argument; bring 
counter-arguments against ; refute, or strive to 
refute : much used in legal procedure. 
Some of them he has objected to ; others he has not at- 
tempted to rebut; and of others he has said nothing. 
D. Webster, Speech, Senate, June 27, 1834. 
4f. To withdraw : used reflexively. 
Themselves . . . 
Doe backe rebutte, and ech to other yealdeth land. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. it 15. 
H. intrans. 1. In law, to make an answer, as 
to a plaintiff's surrejoinder. Compare surrebut. 
The plaintiff may answer the rejoinder by a sur-re- 
joinder ; upon which the defendant may rebut. 
Blackstone, Com., HI. xx. 
2. Iii curling, to make a random stroke with 
great force, in the hope of gaining some advan- 
tage in the striking and displacement of the 
stones about the tee. 
rebuttable (re-but'a-bl), a. [< rebut + -able.] 
That may be rebutted. 
rebuttal (re-but'al), . [< rebut + -al.] 1. 
The act of rebutting; refutation; confutation; 
contradiction. 
There is generally preserved an amazing consistency 
in the delusion, in spite of the incessant rebuttals of sen- 
sation. Warren, Diary of a Physician, xiv. 
2. In law, that part of a trial in which the 
lescere, grow hot, inceptive of calere, be hot : see 
calid.] To show renewed calescence; resume 
a state of glowing heat. 
recalescence (re-ka-les'ens), n. [< recalesce + 
-ence.] Benewed calescence; reglow; specif- 
ically, in physics, a phenomenon exhibited by 
iron as it cools gradually from a white heat 
(point of high incandescence): at certain tem- 
peratures, as at 1,000, the cooling seems to be 
arrested, and the iron glows more brilliantly 
for a short time. It has also been found that certain 
other properties of the metal, magnetic and electrical, un- 
dergo a sudden change at these points of recalescence. 
recall (re-kal'), v. t. [< re- + calfl.] 1. To 
call back from a distance ; summon or cause to 
return or to be returned ; bring back by a call, 
summons, or demand : as, to recall an ambassa- 
dor or a ship ; we cannot recall our lost youth. 
If Henry were recall'd to life again, 
These news would cause him once more yield the ghost. 
Shak., 1 Hen. VI., i. 1. 66. 
At the expiration of six years he was suddenly recalled 
to his native country by the death of his father. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., 11. 5. 
I followed after, 
And asked, as a grace, what it all meant ? 
If she wished not the rash deed's recalment ! 
Browning, The Glove. 
recant (re-kanf), v. [< OF. recanter, rechan- 
ter, sing again, = Pr. rechantar = Pg. reeantar 
= It. ricantare, sing again, < L. recantare, sing 
back, reecho, also sing again, repeat in singing, 
recant, recall, revoke, charm back or away, < 
re-, back, + cantare, sing : see chant and canfi.] 
1. trans. If. To sing over again ; utter repeat- 
edly in song. 
They were wont ever after in their wedding songs to 
recant and resound this name Thalassius. 
Holland, tr. of Plutarch, p. 704. 
2. To unsay; contradict or withdraw formally 
(something which one had previously assert- 
ed); renounce; disavow; retract: as, to recant 
one's opinion or profession of faith. 
Which duke ... did recant his former life. 
Fabyan, Chron. (ed. Ellis), n. 712, an. 1553. 
We haue another manner of speech much like to the re- 
pentant, but doth not as the same recant or vnsay a word 
that hath bene said before. 
Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 180. 
He shall do this, or else I do recant 
The pardon that I late pronounced here. 
Shak., M. of V., iv. 1. 391. 
= Syn. 2. Abjure, Forswear, etc. See renounce. 
II. intrans. To revoke a declaration or propo- 
sition ; unsay what has been said ; renounce or 
disavow an opinion or a dogma formerly main- 
tained; especially, to announce formally one's 
abandonment of a religious belief. 
And many, for offering to maintain these Ceremonies, 
were either punish'd or forced to recant. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 304. 
It is against all precedent to burn 
One who recants ; they mean to pardon me. 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, iv. 2. 
recantation (re-kan-ta'shon), n. [= Sp. re- 
cantation = Pg. recantafSo = It. ricantazione ; 
< L. as if *recantatio(n-), < recantare, recant: 
see recant.'] The act of recanting ; retraction; 
especially, solemn renunciation or abjuration 
How soon 
Would highth recall high thoughts ! 
MUton, P. L., Iv. 95. 
I recall it, not see it ; 
Could vision be clearer? 
Lowell, Fountain of Youth. 
plaintiff endeavors to meet the defendant's recall (re-kill'), n. [< recall, v.] 1. A calling 
evidence by counter-evidence. 
rebutter 1 (re-but'er), n. [< rebut + -eri.] One 
who rebuts or refutes. [Bare.] 
rebutter' 2 (re-but'er), n. [< OF. rebouter, inf. 
used as noun : see rebut.'] An act of rebutting ; 
specifically, in law, an answer, such as a de- 
fendant makes to a plaintiffs surrejoinder. 
Compare surrebutter. 
recadency (rf-ka'den-si), . [< re- + cadency. 
Cf. L. recidere, fall >ack: see recidivous.] The 
act of falling back or descending again; re- 
lapse. [Bare.] 
Defection is apt to render many sincere progressions in 
the first fervor suspected of unsoundness and recadency. 
W. Xontaytie, Devoute Essays, Address to the Court. 
recalcitrance (re-kal'si-trans), . [< recalci- 
tran(t) + -ce.] Befusal of submission; obsti- 
2. To call back to mind or perception; renew of a d <?ctrine or religious system previously 
the memory or experience of ; bring again, as maintained, with acknowledgment that it is 
something formerly experienced. erroneous. 
Your lord and master did well to make his recantation. 
Shak., All's Well, ii. 3. 195. 
Cranmer, it is decided by the Council 
That you to-day should read your recantation 
Before the people in St. Mary's Church. 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, IT. 2. 
3. To revoke; take back, as something given recanter (re-kan'ter), n. One who recants, 
or parted with ; countermand ; abrogate ; can- The public body, which doth seldom 
eel : as, to recall a decree or an order; to recall 1>la y tne recanter. Shak., T. of A., v. 1. 149. 
an edition of a book. recapacitate (re-ka-pas'i-tat), v. t. [< re- + 
Passed sentence may not be recall'd. capacitate.] To qualify again ; confer capacity 
Shak., C. of E., i. 1. 148. on ag_ain. Bp.Atterbury, To Bp. Trelawney. 
The doore of grace turnes upon smooth hinges wide recapitulate (re-ka-pit'u-lat), v. [< LL. reca- 
opening to send out ; but soon shutting to recall the pre- pitulatus, pp. of recapitulare ( > It. ricapitolare 
= Sp. Pg. Pr. recapitular = F. re'capituler), go 
over the main points of a thing again, < L. re-, 
again, + eapitulum, a head, main part, chapter 
(> ML. capitulare, capitulate): see capitulate.] 
I, trans. To repeat, as the principal things men- 
tioned in a preceding discourse, argument, or 
essay; give a summary of the principal facts, 
clous offers of mercy to a nation. 
Milton, Church-Government, i. 7. 
The Gods themselves cannot recall their gifts. 
Tennyson, Tithonus. 
= Syn. 3. Recant, Abjure, etc. (see renounce); Repeal, 
Rescind, etc. (see abolish). 
back ; a summons to return ; a demand for re- 
appearance, as of a performer after he has left 
the stage (usually indicated by long-continued 
applause): as, the recall of an ambassador; the 
recall of an actor. 2. A calling back to mind ; 
the act of summoning up the memory of some- 
thing; a bringing back from the past. 
The recall, resuscitation, or reproduction of ideas al- 
ready formed takes place according to fixed laws, and not 
at random. Mind, XII. 161. 
3. Bevocation; countermand; retraction; ab- 
rogation. 
Those indulgent laws 
Will not be now vouchsafed; other decrees 
Against thee are gone forth without recall. 
Milton., P. L., v. 885. 
'Tis done, and, since 'tis done, 'tis past recall. 
Dryden, Spanish Friar, ill. 3. 
points, or arguments of; mention or relate in 
brief. 
When they met, Temple began by recapitulating what 
had passed at their last interview. 
Macaulay, Sir William Temple. 
= Syn. Recapitulate, Repeat, Recite, Rehearse, Reiterate. 
Recapitulate is a precise word, applying to the formal or 
exact naming of points that have been with some exact- 
ness named before : as, it is often well, after an extended 
argument, to recapitulate the heads. In this it differs from 
repeat, recite, rehearse, which are freer in their use. To 
reiterate is to say a thing a second time or oftener. 
II. intrans. To repeat in brief what has al- 
ready been said. 
recapitulation (re-ka-pit-u-la'shon), n. [< OF. 
recapitulacion, recapitulation, F ." recapitulation 
= Sp. recapitulacion = Pg. recapitulaySo = It. 
ricapitulazione, < LL. recapitulatio(n-) (techni- 
