Insurrection definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (6)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

noun The act or an instance of open revolt against civil authority or a constituted government.

Century Dictionary (3)

A rising up; uprising. He [an impulsive man] lies open to every insurrection of ill humour, and every invasion of distress. H. Blair, Works, II. ii.
The act of rising against civil authority or governmental restraint; specifically, the armed resistance of a number of persons to the power of the state; incipient or limited rebellion. It is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. Ezra iv. 19. In the antumn of 1806 his [Napoleon's] troops penetrated into Prussian Poland, where French agents had stirred up an insurrection, and in 1807 the Russians, Prussia's only hope, were defeated at Friedland. Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, App. ii., p. 403. It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of intelligence. Lowell, Democracy.
Whisky Insurrection or Rebellion an outbreak in Pennsylvania in 1794 against the enforcement of an act of Congress of 1791 imposing an excise duty on all spirits distilled within the United States. A large body of militia was sent to the disturbed district, but the insurrection was suppressed without bloodshed. Synonyms Insurrection, Sedition, Rebellion, Revolt, Mutiny, Riot. The first five words are distinguished from the last in that they express action directed against government or authority, while riot has this implication only incidentally if at all. They express actual and open resistance to authority, except sedition, which may be secret or open, and often is only of a nature to lead to overt acts. An insurrection goes beyond sedition in that it is an actual rising against the government in discontent in resistance to a law, or the like. (See insurgent, n.) Rebellion goes beyond insurrection in aim, being an attempt actually to overthrow the government, while an insurrection seeks only some change of minor importance. A rebellion is generally on a larger scale than an insurrection. A revolt has generally the same aim as a rebellion, but is on a smaller scale. A revolt may be against military government, but is generally, like insurrection, sedition, and rebellion, against civil government. A mutiny is organized resistance to law in an army or navy, or sometimes a similar act by an individual. All these words have figurative uses. When literally used, only insurrection and revolt may be employed in a good sense. The success of a rebellion often dignifies it with the name of a revolution. A riot is generally a blind and unguided outburst of fury, with violence to property and often to persons: as, the draft-riots in New York city in 1863.

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But the insurrection, as Mr Telfair very well remarked, which the leaders in this business are most afraid of, is not an insurrection of slaves, but an insurrection of conscience—an insurrection which they intend to find the means, if they can, to anticipate and prevent. — The White Slave; or, Memoirs of a Fugitive
The ringleaders of the insurrection were arrested and tried by civil process, the disorders ceased, law reigned once more, and the “hateful tax” was duly paid and collected. — George Washington, Vol. II
The great symbol of this new comprehensiveness in the insurrection was the Encyclopaedia. — Diderot and the Encyclopaedists (Vol 1 of 2)
The army was to support an insurrection, and the insurrection was to support the army. — Caesar: A Sketch
No, the insurrection should be against the brainless version of capitalism that has made its home in the United States and, increasingly, in Western Europe, with the resulting economic disasters of which we are only just seeing the beginning. — The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

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rebellion · mutiny · uprising · revolution · conspiracy · invasion · anarchy · riot · disturbance · outbreak · discontent · sedition

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin īnsurrēctiō, īnsurrēctiōn-, from Latin īnsurrēctus, past participle of īnsurgere, to rise up; see insurgent.

Century Dictionary (1)

= French insurrection = Spanish insurreccion = Portuguese insurreição = Italian insurrezione, from Late Latin insurrectio(n-) (in a gloss), a rising up, insurrection, from Latin insurgere, past participle insurrectus, rise up: see insurgent.

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