Etymology From Latin refractārius (“obstinate”), from refrāctus, past participle of refringere (“to break up”). Originally refractary, refractarie, but reanalysed after other adjectives in -ory.
1
Obstinate and unruly; strongly opposed to something.
[…] in most instances attempts to coerce the refractory and disobedient have been the signals of bloody wars, […]1787, Alexander Hamilton, “No. 16”, in The Federalist, published 1863, page 103:
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 […]1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “Chapter 26”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC:
2 more examples
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.1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 8, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC:
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory, Lying down in the melting snow.1927 August, T[homas] S[tearns] Eliot, “[Ariel Poems.] Journey of the Magi.”, in Collected Poems 1909–1935, London: Faber & Faber […], published September 1954, →OCLC, page 107:
2
Not affected by great heat.
Pure lime is extremely refractory, but readily fusible if any silex is brought in contact with it; […]1855, Frederick Overman, A Treatise on Metallurgy, page 315:
There are also over 1,200 pallet brick wagons used for the conveyance of refractory bricks.1959 January 23, “Developments in Freight Transport”, in Railway Magazine, page 50:
3
Medicine, Sciences Resistant to treatment; not responding adequately to therapy.
Many of the vague and refractory cases of neck and shoulder pain and of migraine may be due to cervical disc disease.1949, Albert Fields, John Hoesley, “Neck and Shoulder Pain”, in Calif. Med., 70(6):478-482:
In 33 adult patients with long standing refractory epilepsy on treatment with one or two standard anti-convulsant drugs,1990, H. A. Ring et al., “Vigabatrin: rational treatment for chronic epilepsy”, in J. Neurol. Neurosurg.Psychiatry, 53(12):1051-1055:
4
Biology, Natural sciences Incapable of registering a reaction or stimulus.
The production of a generator potential leaves a refractory state in the receptor membrane […]1959, Nobusada Ishiko, Werner R. Loewenstein, “Electrical output of a receptor membrane”, in Science, 130:1405-6:
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.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:
Etymology From Latin refractārius (“obstinate”), from refrāctus, past participle of refringere (“to break up”). Originally refractary, refractarie, but reanalysed after other adjectives in -ory.
1
A material or piece of material, such as a brick, that has a very high melting point.