Insurgent

Defined in 4 dictionaries — Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916), Black's (1910), Black's (1891)

The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922

One who is concerned in an insurrection. He differs from a rebel in this, that "rebel" is always understood in a bad sense, or one who unjustly opposes the constituted authorities; insurgent may be one who justly opposes the tyranny of constituted authorities. The colonists who opposed the tyranny of the English government were insurgents, not rebels.

Ballentine's Law Dictionary

James A. Ballentine · 1916

One engaging in an insurrection; partaking of an insurrection.

Black's Law Dictionary

Henry Campbell Black, M.A. · 1910

One who participates ip an insurrection; one who opposes the execution of law by force of arms or who rises in revolt against the constituted authorities. A distinction is often taken between "insurgent" and "rebel," in this: that the former term is not necessarily to be taken in a bald sense, inasmuch as an insurrection, though extralegal, may be just and timely in itself; as where it is undertaken for the overthrow of tyranny or the reform of gross abuses. According to Webster, an insurrection is an incipient or early stage of a rebellion.

A Dictionary of Law

Henry Campbell Black · 1891

One who participates in an insurrection; one who opposes the execution of law by force of arms, or who rises in revolt against the constituted authorities. A distinction is often taken between "insurgent" and "rebel," in this: that the former term is not necessarily to be taken in a bad sense, inasmuch as an insurrection, though extralegal, may be just and timely in itself; as where it is undertaken for the overthrow of tyranny or the reform of gross abuses. According to Webster, an insurrection is an incipient or early stage of a rebellion.