abjure
Verb
Verb Forms: abjured, abjuring, abjures
- To formally renounce a belief, cause, or claim.
- formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
- "She abjured her beliefs"
- To solemnly reject (someone or something); to abandon (someone or something) forever; to disavow, to disclaim, to repudiate.
- To renounce (something) upon oath; to forswear; specifically, to recant or retract (a heresy or some other opinion); to withdraw.
- To cause (someone) to recant or retract (a heresy or some other opinion).
- Especially in abjure the realm: to swear an oath to leave (a place) forever.
- To cause or compel (someone) to leave a place forever; to banish.
- To solemnly reject; to abandon forever.
- To recant or retract a heresy on oath.
- To swear an oath to leave a place forever.
Examples
- I had to abjure my planned seven-letter word when my opponent blocked the spot.
- to abjure allegiance to a prince
- to abjure errors
Origin / Etymology
From Late Middle English abjuren (“to give up (something); to recant or renounce (something) under oath”), from Anglo-Norman abjurer, Middle French abiurer, abjurer, and Old French abjurer (“to reject or renounce (something) on oath”) (modern French abjurer), and from their etymon Latin abiūrāre, the present active infinitive of abiūrō (“to deny on oath, recant, renounce, repudiate, abjure”), from ab- (prefix meaning ‘away from, from’) + iūro (“to take an oath, swear, vow”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yew- (“(adjective) right; straight; upright; (noun) justice; law; right”).
Synonyms
forswear, recant, resile, retract, abjure, backpedal, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, eat one's words, forsay, recall, renounce, repudiate, revoke, swallow, take back, unsay, unspeak, walk back, wash one's hands of, withcall, withdraw
Scrabble Score: 15
abjure: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordabjure: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
abjure: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary