rebellion Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun refusal to accept some authority or code or convention
    • each generation must have its own rebellion
    • his body was in rebellion against fatigue
  2. noun organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
    rising; uprising; insurrection; revolt.

WordNet

Re*bel"lion noun
Etymology
F. rébellion, L. rebellio. See Rebel, v. t. Among the Romans rebellion was originally a revolt or open resistance to their government by nations that had been subdued in war. It was a renewed war.
Definitions
  1. The act of rebelling; open and avowed renunciation of the authority of the government to which one owes obedience, and resistances to its officers and laws, either by levying war, or by aiding others to do so; an organized uprising of subjects for the purpose of coercing or overthrowing their lawful ruler or government by force; revolt; insurrection.
    No sooner is the standard of rebellion displayed than men of desperate principles resort to it. Ames.
  2. Open resistances to, or defiance of, lawful authority. Syn. -- Insurrection; sedition; revolt; mutiny; resistances; contumacy. See Insurrection.

Webster 1913