dissident

Etymology

From Latin dissidēns, dissidentis, present participle of dissidēre (“to sit apart; to disagree”), from dis- (“asunder, apart, in two”) + sedēre (“to sit”).

adj

1. In a manner that disagrees; dissenting; discordant.
   Verilye yf all thynges that euel and vitiouſs maners haue caused to ſeme inconueniente and noughte ſhould be refuſed, as thinges vnmete and reprochefull, then we muſt among Chriſten people wynke at the moſte parte of al thoſe thinges, whych Chriſt taught vs, and ſo ſtreitly forbad them to be winked at, yat thoſe thinges alſo whiche he whiſpered in ye eares of his diſciples he commaunded to be proclaimed in open houſes. And yet ye moſt parte of them is more diſſident from the maners of the worlde nowe a dayes, then my communication was. 1556, Thomas More; Ralph Robinson, transl., “The First Book of the Communication of Raphael Hythloday Concerning the Best State of a Commonwealth”, in A Frutefull Pleasaunt, [and] Wittie Worke, of the Beste State of a Publique Weale, and of the Newe Yle, Called Vtopia: Written in Latine, by the Right Worthie and Famous Syr Thomas More Knyght, and Translated into Englishe by Raphe Robynson, sometime Fellowe of Corpus Christi College in Oxford, and Nowe by Him at this Seconde Edition Newlie Perused and Corrected, and also with Diuers Notes in the Margent Augmented, 2nd English language edition, London: Imprinted at London: By [Richard Tottel for] Abraham Vele, dwellinge in Pauls churcheyarde at the signe of the Lambe, OCLC 606520297; reprinted as Edward Arber, editor, Utopia. Originally Printed in Latin, 1516. Translated into English by Ralph Robinson, Sometime Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His Second and Revised Edition, 1556: Preceded by the Title and Epistle of His First Edition, 1551, London: Alex, Murray & Son, 30, Queen Square, W.C., 1 March 1869, OCLC 650389358, pages 65–66
   On flattening either the higher or lower reed separately, by partially pushing in either one of the pulls, dissident beats instantly arose, which would be made to disappear by partially pushing in the other reed. 25 May 1877, Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, volume 25, London: Royal Society of Arts, →OCLC, page 670
   In this chapter we look at the question of convergence in corporate governance by evaluating dissident proxy proposals in Canada. […] Dissident proxy initiatives are a direct challenge to corporate management and the board. They contain assertions of filers' views of what constitutes legitimate modes of conduct for the corporation, and can be seen as legitimacy contests between filers and corporate management (Bates and Hennessy, 2010). Dissident, or unsolicited, proposals are published along with those management is required to file annually, […] 2012, Kimberley A. Bates, Dean A. Hennessy, “Does Convergence in Regulation Lead to Convergence in Practice? The Case of Dissident Proxy Contests in Canada”, in Abdul [A.] Rasheed, Toru Yoshikawa, editors, The Convergence of Corporate Governance: Promise and Prospects, Houndmills, Basingstoke, New York, N.Y.: Palgrave Macmillan

noun

1. A person who formally opposes the current political structure, the political group in power, the policies of the political group in power, or current laws.
   I once more find myself a dissident, and a dissident in a very small minority. 15 June 1895, “Claude Monet”, in The Speaker, volume 11, London: Mather & Crowther, →OCLC, page 658
   It is largely the story of a man who fell from being a potential leader of the Soviet Communist Party in the early 1960s to being an outcast by the mid-1970s – a dissident in the eyes of officialdom, a "half-dissident" in his own eyes. 1989, Stephen F. Cohen, Katrina vanden Heuvel, quoting Len Karpinsky, “The Autobiography of a ‘Half-Dissident’”, in Voices of Glasnost: Interviews with Gorbachev's Reformers, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, page 280
   Before [Martyn] Frampton published his book Legion of the Rearguard, an exhaustive examination of the dissidents, he highlighted sections of it released in a report by the International Center for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King's College, London, entitled "The Return of the Militants." 2013, John Horgan, “Here to Stay?”, in Divided We Stand: The Strategy and Psychology of Ireland's Dissident Terrorists, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press
2. (Christianity) One who disagrees or dissents; one who separates from the established religion.
   1. (Christianity, specifically, historical) Sometimes Dissident: in the kingdom of Poland, the name for Christians not part of the Roman Catholic Church.
      From Warſaw, May 25. That the Dyet of Convocation had held its laſt Seſſion on the 22d, and then agreed to and ſign'd a general Confederacy in good Order, having firſt Sworn not to Elect a Foreigner as above. The Day of Election was fixt for the 25th of Aug. But a Proteſt was enter'd by the Diſſidents, who had been excluded. 1733 May, “Foreign Advices in May, 1733”, in “Sylvanus Urban” [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman's Magazine: or Monthly Intelligencer, volume III, number 24, London: Printed, and sold at St John's Gate, by F. Jeffries in Ludgate-street, and most booksellers, →OCLC, page 272
      The Article which enjoins Peace among the Diſſidents was ſigned by all the Catholics then present, and ſo are alſo the continual Repetitions of it in all the Pacta Conventa, and in the ſame Terms, to the Death of the late King; whereas the Confederacies of 1717 and 1733 are not signed by the Diſſidents, who were expelled from thence by Force. 1767, Reflections on the Affairs of the Dissidents in Poland, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 7
      Theſe Pieces are introduced by a very ſenſible preface, explaining the hardſhips and injuſtice which have been inflicted upon the Diſſidents of Poland. We there ſee that the Diſſidents (by whom are meant the proteſtants and the Greeks) had their privileges eſtablished by the fundamental laws paſſed in 1572; and that theſe rights were confirmed by the treaty of Oliva in 1660, which was guarantied by the principal powers of Europe. 1768 March, “VIII. Original Pieces, concerning the Present Situation of the Protestants and Greeks in Poland. Wherein are Contained, The Explanation of Their Rights Published by the Court of Russia: The Articles of the Peace of Oliva: The Confederacies of the Dissidents, and the Declarations of the Protestant Courts in Their Favour: The Speeches of the Bishop of Cracovia and the Pope's Nuncio: The Constitutions of the Diet of 1766: And the Articles of the College of the Bishops Allowed to the Dissidents, &c. &c. &c. Translated from the Originals. 8vo. Pr[ice] 2s. 6d. Baker.”, in The Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature, volume XXV, London: Printed for A. Hamilton, in Falcon-Court, Fleet-Street, →OCLC, pages 206–207
      A Socinian was a Dissident, and a member of the Greek Church was a Dissident; and these Dissidents agreed to act together. Even a liberal Romanist might be called a Dissident. 1863, R[obert] G[ordon] Latham, “Poland from Sigismund II. to the Partition”, in The Nationalities of Europe. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place, S.W., →OCLC, page 53
      The rest, about half a million Russian Orthodox and about the same number of Protestants, were known as ‘dissidents’; the huge Jewish community defied classification. 2013, Brendan [Peter] Simms, Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, from 1453 to the Present, London: Allen Lane