Centesimus Undetricesimus: March 1, 2009: Contumax
Theme for this month: "-Ax" Adjectives
Used on verbal bases to express an ability or accustomed action, the suffix "-ax" creates good words to use the 'x' tile for Latin scrabble. I must admit, however, that I am partially stealing this theme from the A.Word.A.Day theme from last week (that theme was "adjectives to describe people").
contumax, contumacis (gen)
Definition: stubborn, insolent, pig-headed, defiant
Sententia: Hagrid caudam porci Dudlio contumaci dedit.
Hagrid gave the tail of a pig to pigheaded Dudley.
This word is found about 30 times in Latin literature, mostly in prose. Its etymology is not known for sure, however. The English word contumacious was the A.Word.A.Day word last Monday, just after I had used the Latin word contumeliosus, derived from this week's word, in the sentence for last week's LVD.
NB: Bold and underline == macron