Stubborn (pronounced stuhb-ern)
(1) Unreasonably obstinate; obstinately unmoving.
(2) Fixed or set in purpose or opinion; resolute; obstinately
maintaining a course of action regardless of circumstances.
(3) Something difficult to manage or suppress.
(4) An object which is hard, tough, or stiff (stone,
timber etc) or wood and thus difficult to shape or work; an object such (as a tightly
fastened bolt) which is difficult to move; any problems which prove resistant
to attempts to secure a solution.
(5) In the slang of the citrus industry, as stubbornness, a disease of
citrus trees characterized by stunted growth and misshapen fruit, caused by
Spiroplasma citri.
1350–1400: From the Middle English stiborn, stiborne, styborne, stuborn & stoborne, of obscure origin; the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) noting
the earliest known form as stiborn. Stubborn is an adjective, stubbornly an adverb
and stubbornness a noun.
Stubborn is one of a remarkably large number of words in English with an
unknown origin and is thus self referential, itself unreasonably obstinate in an
unwillingness to disclose its source.
Deconstruction (stub + born) is no help because the spelling seems to
have evolved merely to respect the pronunciation (something which in English can’t
always be relied upon) and however tempting might seem a link with “stub” (a short,
projecting part or remaining piece) (from the Middle English stubbe (tree stump), from the Old
English stybb, stobb & stubb (tree stump), from the Proto-West
Germanic stubb, from the Proto-Germanic
stunjaz& stubbaz and related to the Middle Dutch stubbe, the Old Norse stubbr
and the Faroese stubbi (stub), from the
primitive Indo-European steu (to push,
stick, knock, beat) & stew- (sharp
slope)), a thing often immovable and unyielding, there’s simply no evidence.
More correctly, there’s simply no verified evidence. As modern English coalesced during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, lexicography became more industry than
art and there was great interest (and competition) in the production of
dictionaries, some of which included etymological detail in their entries. At this time, it was thought the origin of
stubborn was known, the accepted method of the time being to look for similar constructions in Hebrew, Latin and Greek on the basis it was supposedly from these ancient tongues
that the words of modern languages were derived. That supposition wasn’t entirely accurate but
was true enough for many of the words in English at the time fully to be
understood. Because the Greek adjective στι-βαρóς
(obstinate, stubborn) enjoyed such a similarity of sound with stubborn, that
was thought conclusive, hence the entries in early dictionaries. However, later scholarship proved the two
words unrelated and no research has ever offered a plausible alternative.
According to the manufacturers of detergents, the most recalcitrant stains are "stubborn stains".
That stubbornness is a frequently encountered part of the human condition is perhaps indicated by the numbers of words and phrases (most famously “stubborn as a mule”) in English associated with the idea including adamant, determined, dogged, headstrong, inflexible, intractable, ornery, persistent, perverse, relentless, rigid, single-minded, steadfast, tenacious, tough, unshakable, willful, balky, bloody-minded, bullheaded, contrary, refractory, unyielding, obdurate, wayward, obstinate, disobedient, insubordinate, undisciplined & rebellious.
In the interview which accompanied her 2011 Playboy photo-shoot (and Playboy once commissioned research to prove people really did read the text), Lindsay Lohan admitted she “…should have listened to her advisers” and had she done so she would likely have avoided the “problems” so well documented by the tabloid press. “My stubbornness at 18 and 19-years old got in the way” she added, acknowledging that “…ultimately we are responsible for ourselves and our own actions.” She returned to the theme in a Vogue interview in 2022 discussing her roles in The Parent Trap (1998) revealing one consequence of her stubbornness complicated things for the production crew. Her (clearly non-negotiable) demand was that she had to wear a certain nail polish while playing the part of one of the identical twins and that was “Hard Candy” in blue. Ms Lohan said at the time it was “a big deal” and when it comes to fashion, pre-teen girls are an opinionated and uncompromising lot. It was of course not a good idea because, with the one actor playing both twins, the distinctive enamel had to be removed with each switch of character. “It was a nightmare for everyone” she admitted.
In use, stubborn, dogged, obstinate & persistent imply some
fixity of purpose or condition and resistance to change, regardless of changing
circumstances or compelling evidence. There
are however nuances, stubborn and obstinate both imply resistance to advice or force
but stubborn is more suggestive of an innate quality and is used almost exclusively
when referring to inanimate things; by convention, to be obstinate seems to demand
there be some process of thought or at least character (mules presumably
difficult in nature rather than in any way thoughtful). One who is dogged might be both obstinate and
stubborn but dogged can also imply tenacity, a pertinacity and grimness of purpose in
doing something, especially in the face of difficulties which seem insurmountable
and one who persists in seeking to solve an apparently insoluble problem can be
lauded for their, dogged, stubborn determination. Persistent implies having a resoluteness of
purpose, one who perseveres despite setbacks and discouragement. Some insist stubborn describes an extreme
degree of passive obstinacy and while that tends to be true when the word is
used of objects, among the sentient, stubbornness can manifest as anything but
passive.
In the Bible there are passages which suggest stubbornness
in the doing of God's work is a virtue but the trait was sometimes clearly a
sin. In the Book of Deuteronomy
(21:18-21 as part of the Deuteronomic Code), the penalty of death by stoning is
specified as a punishment for a stubborn and delinquent son. The text is an interesting example of the usefulness of the Bible as a historic document, the inclusion in the
Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (King James Version (KJV 1611))
18 If a man have a
stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or
the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not
hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his
father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his
city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall
say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he
will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And all the men
of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil
away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
As recent events and judicial decisions illustrate, in the United States there is a tension created by the dynamics which existed from the first days of white settlement, the competing lust to live free from oppression versus the undercurrent of a muscular, puritanical religiosity. The Old Testament force of the latter in November 1646 prevailed upon the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, inspiring a law providing, inter alia, for the capital punishment of male children found disobedient to their parents. Although the death penalty was later removed (though punishment for recalcitrant daughters was added in an early example of gender equality), the law was not repealed until 1973 although, as the troubled life of Massachusetts senator Ted Kennedy might suggest, enforcement had by then long fallen into disuse. Similar laws were enacted in Connecticut in 1650, Rhode Island in 1688, and New Hampshire in 1679.
The Massachusetts statute: "If a man have a stubborn or rebellious son, of sufficient years and understanding sixteen years of age, which will not obey the voice of his Father, or the voice of his Mother, and that when they have chastened him will not harken unto them: then shall his Father and Mother being his natural parents, lay hold on him, and bring him to the Magistrates assembled in Court and testify unto them, that their son is stubborn and rebellious and will not obey their voice and chastisement, but lives in sundry notorious crimes, such a son shall be put to death."
Counter-intuitively, considering the blood-soaked histories of Europe’s
squabbling dynasties, of all the hundreds of cognomina (names appended before
or after the person's name which are applied to identify their nature) attached
to kings and princes, it seems only to have been Louis X of France (1289–1316;
King of France 1314-1316 & King of Navarre (as Louis I) 1305-1316) who was
informally styled "The Stubborn" (Louis le
Hutin), although, just to stress the point, he was known also as "Louis the
Quarrelsome" & "Louis the Headstrong". Because
in royalty names are so often recycled (John, Frederick, Louis, Charles etc), cognomina
are genuinely helpful to historians and are for readers, probably more mnemonic
that Roman numbering (Louis XI, XII, XIII etc).
While there has been much use of the usual suspects (the Brave, Great,
Good, Bad, Cruel, Victorious etc) and some have been merely descriptive (the
Fat, Bald, Tall, Hairy etc (although some of these were ironic)), some were
evocative:
There was the Abandoned (John I of Aragon), the Accursed (Sviatopolk I of Kiev), the Affable (Charles VIII of France), the Alchemist (John, Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach), the Apostate (Julian, Emperor of Rome, the Arab (Phillip I, Emperor of Rome), the Astrologer (Alfonso X of Castile), the Bad (applied to many but famously associated with Emund of Sweden), the Bastard (of which there have been many more than those to whom the sobriquet was attached, the best known being William I (better known as the Conqueror)), the Beer Jug (John George I, Elector of Saxony), the Bewitched (Charles II of Spain), the Bloodaxe (Eric I of Norway), the Bloodthirsty (doubtless a widely used adjective but the most cited seems Ismail of Morocco), Bloody (Mary I of England (and the well known Vodka cocktail)), the Cabbage (Ivaylo of Bulgaria), the Crosseyed (Vasili Kosoi, a Muscovian usurper), the Devil (Robert I, Duke of Normandy), the Indolent (Louis V of France (also the Sluggard which in this context imparts much the same meaning)), the Drunkard, (Michael III, Byzantine Emperor although one suspects he was one of many), the Dung-Named (Constantine V, Byzantine Emperor), the Executioner (Mehmed I of the Ottoman Empire, again one of many), the Fat (most associated with Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor), the Fowler (Henry I of Germany, a notable figure of the First Reich), the Hairy (Wilfred I of Urgel), the Impaler (the infamous Vlad III of Wallachia (Basarab Ţepeluş cel Tânăr of Wallachia was the Little Impaler)), the Impotent (Henry IV of Castile), the Mad (of which there should have been more than there are and associated (fairly or not) with Lorenzo de' Medici of the Florentine Republic), Minus-a-Quarter (Michael VII Dukas, Byzantine Emperor (and apparently the only regal sobriquet derived from monetary policy)), the Priest Hater (Eric II of Norway), the She-Wolf (Isabella of France), the Be-shitten (James II (of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland)), the Stammerer (Louis II of France), the Terrible (a popular one but best remembered for Ivan IV of Russia), the Unfortunate (which could fairly be applied to many but seems linked only with Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarve (who was unfortunate (o Desaventurado) but it could have been worse (he survived to see out his years in Twickenham) and he was known also as the Patriot (o Patriota)).
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