Con"tu*ma*cy (?), n.; pl. Contumacies (#). [L. contumacia, fr. contumax, -acis, insolent; prob. akin to contemnere to despise: cf. F. contumace. Cf. Contemn.]
1.
Stubborn perverseness; pertinacious resistance to authority.
The bishop commanded him . . . to be thrust into the stocks for his manifest and manifold contumacy.
Strype.
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.
© Webster 1913.