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abdicate

ab·di·cate

UK/ˈæb.dɪˌkeɪt/ US/ˈæbdʌˌkeɪt/ rare obsolete

verb

1.

give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

  • “The King abdicated when he married a divorcee”
Synonyms

Origin

First attested in 1532; borrowed 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”). Compare Middle English abdicat (“forsaken, renounced”). Compare typologically abandon, Russian отказа́ться (otkazátʹsja), отре́чься (otréčʹsja).

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.