OB'STINACY, n. L. obstinatio, from obsto, to stand against, to oppose ob and sto.
1. A fixedness in opinion or resolution that cannot be shaken at all, or not without great difficulty firm and usually unreasonable adherence to an opinion, purpose or system a fixedness that will not yield to persuasion, arguments or other means. Obstinacy may not always convey the idea of unreasonable or unjustifiable firmness as when we say, soldiers fight with obstinacy. But often, and perhaps usually, the word denotes a fixedness of resolution which is not to be vindicated under the circumstances stubbornness pertinacity persistency.
2. Fixedness that will not yield to application, or that yields with difficulty as the obstinacy of a disease or evil.