abdicate
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈæb.dɪˌkeɪt/
Forms: form: abdicates
form: abdicating
form: abdicated
form: abdicated
Etymology: First attested in 1532; from Latin abdicātus (“renounced”), perfect passive participle of abdicō (“to renounce, reject, disclaim”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), formed from ab (“away”) + dicō (“proclaim, dedicate, declare”), akin to dīcō (“to say”). Cognate with Middle English abdicat (“forsaken, renounced”).
Senses: glosses: To disclaim and expel from the family, as a father his child; to disown; to disinherit.
glosses: To formally separate oneself from or to divest oneself of.
glosses: To depose.
examples: text: [W]e were legally call'd by his Majeſties writ to give our Attendance in Parliament, […] if we did not, we ſhould betray the Truſt committed to us by his Majeſtie, and ſhamefully betray and abdicate the due right both of our ſelves and Succeſſours.
ref: 1647 June 8 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Hall, “Bishop Hall’s Hard Measure”, in The Shaking of the Olive-Tree. The Remaining Works of that Incomparable Prelate Joseph Hall, D.D. […], London: […] J. Cadwel for J[ohn] Crooke, […], published 1660, →OCLC, page 48:
glosses: To reject; to cast off; to discard.
examples: text: to abdicate the throne, the crown, the papacy
text: Note: The word abdicate was held to mean, in the case of James II, to abandon without a formal surrender.
text: The cross-bearers abdicated their service.
ref: 1776–1788, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC:
text: He abdicates all right to be his own governor.
ref: 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:
text: The understanding abdicates its functions.
ref: 1856, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth:
text: Although the 1970s ushered in a culture of relative moral freedom, the courts refused to abdicate their role of custodians of public morality.
ref: 2022, Janet Loveless, Mischa Allen, Caroline Derry, chapter 12, in Complete Criminal Law, 8th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, 12.2.5, page 649:
glosses: To surrender, renounce or relinquish, as sovereign power; to withdraw definitely from filling or exercising, as a high office, station, dignity; to fail to fulfill responsibility for.
examples: text: Though a king may abdicate for his own person, he cannot abdicate for the monarchy.
ref: 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:
glosses: To relinquish or renounce a throne, or other high office or dignity; to renounce sovereignty.
Synonyms: sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: abandon
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: abjure
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: cast aside
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: cast off
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: cede
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: desert
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: disinherit
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: disown
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: forego
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: forsake
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: give up
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: quit
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: refuse
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: reject
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: relent
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: relinquish
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: renounce
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: repudiate
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: resign
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: retire
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: stand down
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: surrender
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: vacate
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: waive
sense: synonyms of "abdicate"
word: yield
Derived terms: abdicable
abdicant
abdication
abdicative
abdicator
unabdicate