Other forms: dissidents
A dissident is someone who openly opposes the ruling power. A political dissident, jailed dissidents, dissident writers.
The openness is what defines the role and what makes it dangerous — a private objector is not a dissident. The word is used almost only of authoritarian states, which is itself a political judgement about which oppositions count. Note that the Latin means to sit apart.
1noundissidentSomeone who openly opposes the ruling power.
“The dissident was arrested after writing articles that criticised the government.”
dissident is an opponent.
Latin dissidens comes from dissidere, to sit apart — dis plus sedere, to sit. Sedentary and reside come from the same sitting.
Proto-Indo-European
*sed-
Latin
dissidēns
English, today
dissident
Built from
From Latin dissidēns, present participle of dissideō (“to sit apart; to disagree”), from dis- (“asunder, apart, in two”) + sedeō (“to sit”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA