firebrand

noun

Etymology: From Middle English fyr-brand, furbrond, equivalent to fire + brand. Cognate with German Feuerbrand (“firebrand”).

1. A torch or other burning stick with a flame at one end.

   “The crowd cheered as a firebrand was tossed onto the huge pile of wood to start the traditional homecoming bonfire.”

   “[…] he filled all their throats with it, so that those poor wretches were by it made to cough like foxes, crying, Ha, Pantagruel, how how thou addest greater heat to the firebrand that is in us.”

2. An argumentative troublemaker or revolutionary; one who agitates against the status quo.

   “The member of the college's Communist League was a firebrand who would launch a sit-in or protest march at a moment's notice.”

   “At the same time, Mr. Irons said, it is important to separate “this very valiant and completely kosher and clean repository of public material, which we perfectly endorse, and this kind of firebrand ‘We want to show the publishers they’re wrong’ kind of attitude.””