refractory

English

WOTD – 28 September 2008

Etymology

From Latin refractārius (“obstinate”), from refractus, past participle of refringere (“to break up”). Originally refractary, refractarie, but reanalysed after other adjectives in -ory.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈfɹæk.təɹ.i/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -æktəɹi

Adjective

refractory (comparative more refractory, superlative most refractory)

1. Obstinate and unruly; strongly opposed to something.

   Synonyms: (inanimates) contrary, fractious; see also Thesaurus:obstinate

   • 1787, Alexander Hamilton, “No. 16”, in The Federalist, published 1863, page 103:

     […] in most instances attempts to coerce the refractory and disobedient have been the signals of bloody wars, […]

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 26”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:

     Mr. Weller knocked at the door, and after a pretty long interval—occupied by the party without, in whistling a tune, and by the party within, in persuading a refractory flat candle to allow itself to be lighted […]

   • 1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 8, in Pollyanna‎, L.C. Page, →OCLC:

     For five minutes Pollyanna worked swiftly, deftly, combing a refractory curl into fluffiness, perking up a drooping ruffle at the neck, or shaking a pillow into plumpness so that the head might have a better pose. Meanwhile the sick woman, frowning prodigiously, and openly scoffing at the whole procedure, was, in spite of herself, beginning to tingle with a feeling perilously near to excitement.

3. Not affected by great heat.

   Synonyms: heat-resistant, fireproof

   • 1855, Frederick Overman, A Treatise on Metallurgy‎, page 315:

     Pure lime is extremely refractory, but readily fusible if any silex is brought in contact with it; […]

4. (medicine) Resistant to treatment; not responding adequately to therapy.
   • 1949, Albert Fields, John Hoesley, “Neck and Shoulder Pain”, in Calif. Med., 70(6):478-482:

     Many of the vague and refractory cases of neck and shoulder pain and of migraine may be due to cervical disc disease.

   • 1990, H. A. Ring et al., “Vigabatrin: rational treatment for chronic epilepsy”, in J. Neurol. Neurosurg.Psychiatry, 53(12):1051-1055:

     In 33 adult patients with long standing refractory epilepsy on treatment with one or two standard anti-convulsant drugs,

5. (biology) Incapable of registering a reaction or stimulus.
   • 1959, Nobusada Ishiko, Werner R. Loewenstein, “Electrical output of a receptor membrane”, in Science, 130:1405-6:

     The production of a generator potential leaves a refractory state in the receptor membrane […]

   • 1970, S.S. Barold et al., “Chest wall stimulation in evaluation of patients with implanted ventricular-inhibited demand pacemakers”, in Br. Heart J., 32(6):783-789:

     The […] delivery of external stimuli […] delineates the pacemaker refractory period after the emission of a pacing stimulus and after the sensing of a spontaneous beat.

Derived terms

• biorefractory
• chemorefractory
• electrorefractory
• nonrefractory
• photorefractory
• psychological refractory period
• refractorily
• refractoriness
• refractory anaemia with excess blasts
• refractory metal
• refractory period
• refractory rhyme
• unrefractory

Related terms

• refractive
• refraction

Translations

obstinate; strongly opposed

Bulgarian: непокорен (bg) (nepokoren), непослушен (bg) (neposlušen) Catalan: refractari Dutch: weerbarstig (nl), halsstarrig (nl) Finnish: itsepintainen (fi), itsepäinen (fi), omapäinen (fi) French: réfractaire (fr) German: widerborstig (de), widerspenstig (de), störrisch (de), halsstarrig (de), renitent (de), widersätzlich, aufsässig (de) Greek: ανυπότακτος (el) (anypótaktos) Hungarian: makacs (hu), ellenszegülő (hu), ellenálló (hu), szembeszálló Ido: refraktara (io) Italian: refrattario (it) m, refrattaria (it) f Maori: tīhoihoi, tīhoi Portuguese: refratário (pt) Serbo-Croatian: refrakteran, tvrdokoran (sh) Spanish: refractario (es) Swedish: motspänstig (sv)

not affected by great heat

Bulgarian: огнеупорен (bg) (ogneuporen) Catalan: refractari Czech: žáruvzdorný (cs) Dutch: vuurvast (nl) Finnish: kuumuudenkestävä, tulenkestävä French: réfractaire (fr) German: hitzebeständig (de), feuerbeständig (de), feuerfest (de), hitzefest, refraktär (de), widerstandsfähig (de) Greek: δύστηκτος (el) (dýstiktos), πυρίμαχος (el) (pyrímachos) Hungarian: hőálló (hu), tűzálló (hu) Ido: refraktara (io) Italian: refrattario (it) Portuguese: refratário (pt) Russian: жаропрочный (ru) (žaropročnyj), огнеупорный (ru) (ogneupornyj) Serbo-Croatian: refrakteran, vatrootporan Spanish: refractario (es)

medicine: difficult to heal

Bulgarian: трудно лечим (trudno lečim) Finnish: itsepintainen (fi), refraktorinen, refraktaarinen French: réfractaire (fr) German: therapierefraktär, nicht auf Therapie ansprechend Greek: ανθεκτικός (el) (anthektikós), δυσίατος (dysíatos) Hungarian: nehezen kezelhető/gyógyítható, refrakter (hu) Ido: refraktara (io) Italian: refrattario (it) Portuguese: refratário (pt) Serbo-Croatian: refrakteran, tvrdokoran (sh) Spanish: refractario (es)

biology: incapable of registering a reaction or stimulus

German: unbeeinflussbar (de), refraktär (de), passiv (de), unempfindlich (de), unempfindlich (de), unempfänglich, reizunempfindlich Serbo-Croatian: refrakteran

Noun

refractory (plural refractories)

1. A material or piece of material, such as a brick, that has a very high melting point.
2. A plant or factory that produces such material.

Translations

material with a high melting point

German: Feuerfestmaterial n, feuerfestes Material n, feuerfester Stoff m, feuerfester Baustoff m, feuerfester Baustoff m Greek: πυρίμαχος (el) m (pyrímachos) Italian: refrattario (it) m

Further reading

• “refractory”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.