'intransigent' originates from French, specifically the word 'intransigeant', where the prefix 'in-' meant 'not' and 'transigere' (from Latin) meant 'to come to an agreement' or 'to settle'.

'intransigent' changed from French 'intransigeant' (19th century French) and ultimately entered English as 'intransigent', derived via earlier Latin 'transigere' (trans- 'across' + agere 'to drive/do').

Initially it described someone 'not willing to come to an agreement', and over time it has retained that core meaning of 'refusing to compromise'.