Link Centre Dictionary

recant

re·cant

UK/ɹəˈkænt/ US/riˈkænt/ uncommon

verb

1.

formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

  • “He retracted his earlier statements about his religion”
  • “She abjured her beliefs”
Synonyms

Origin

First attested in 1535, from Latin recantare (“to sing back, reecho, sing again, repeat in singing, recant, recall, revoke, charm back or away”), from re- (“back”) + canto (“to chant, to sing”), frequentative of cano.

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.