Renounce (r-nouns), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Renounced (-nounst); p. pr. & vb. n. Renouncing (-nounsng).]
Etymology: [F. renoncer, L. renuntiare to bring back word, announce, revoke, retract, renounce; pref. re- re- + nuntiare to announce, fr. nuncius, a messenger. See Nuncio, and cf. Renunciation.]
1. To declare against; to reject or decline formally; to refuse to own or acknowledge as belonging to one; to disclaim; as, to renounce a title to land or to a throne.
2. To cast off or reject deliberately; to disown; to dismiss; to forswear. This world I do renounce, and in your sights Shake patiently my great affliction off. Shak.
3. (Card Playing)
To disclaim having a card of (the suit led) by playing a card of another suit. To renounce probate (Law), to decline to act as the executor of a will. Mozley & W.
1 more senses
Syn. -- To cast off; disavow; disown; disclaim; deny; abjure; recant; abandon; forsake; quit; forego; resign; relinquish; give up; abdicate. -- Renounce, Abjure, Recant. -- To renounce is to make an affirmative declaration of abandonment. To abjure is to renounce with, or as with, the solemnity of an oath. To recant is to renounce or abjure some proposition previously affirmed and maintained. From Thebes my birth I own; . . . since no disgrace Can force me to renounce the honor of my race. Dryden. Either to die the death, or to abjure Forever the society of man. Shak. Ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void. Milton.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Renounce, v. i.
1. To make renunciation. [Obs.] He of my sons who fails to make it good, By one rebellious act renounces to my blood. Dryden.
2. (Law)
To decline formally, as an executor or a person entitled to letters of administration, to take out probate or letters. Dryden died without a will, and his widow having renounced, his son Charles administered on June 10. W. D. Christie.
Renounce, n. (Card Playing)
Act of renouncing.
Shades of meaning
Abjure, discard, forswear, recall, recant, renounce, retract, and revoke, like abandon, imply some previous connection. Renounce (L. re, back, and nuntio, bear a message) is to declare against and give up formally and definitively; as, to renounce the pomps and vanities of the world. Recant (L. re, back, and canto, sing) is to take back or deny formally and publicly, as a belief that one has held or professed. Retract (L. re, back, and traho, draw) is to take back something that one has said as not true or as what one is not ready to maintain; as, to retract a charge or accusation; one recants what was especially his own, he retracts what was directed against another. Repudiate (L. re, back, or away, and pudeo, feel shame) is primarily to renounce as shameful, hence to divorce, as a wife; thus in general to put away with emphatic and determined repulsion; as, to repudiate a debt. To deny is to affirm to be not true or not binding; as, to deny a statement or a relationship; or to refuse to grant as something requested; as, his mother could not deny him what he desired. To discard is to cast away as useless or worthless; thus, one discards a worn garment; a coquette discards a lover. Revoke (L. re, back, and voco, call), etymologically the exact equivalent of the English recall, is to take back something given or granted; as, to revoke a command, a will, or a grant; recall may be used in the exact sense of revoke, but is often applied to persons, as revoke is not; we recall a messenger and revoke the order with which he was charged. Abjure (L. ab, away, and juro, swear) is etymologically the exact equivalent of the Saxon forswear, signifying to put away formally and under oath, as an error, heresy, or evil practise, or a condemned and detested person. A man abjures his religion, recants his belief, abjures or renounces his allegiance, repudiates another's claim, renounces his own, retracts a false statement. A person may deny, disavow, disclaim, disown what has been truly or falsely imputed to him or supposed to be his. He may deny his signature, disavow the act of his agent, disown his child; he may repudiate a just claim or a base suggestion. A native of the United States can not abjure or renounce allegiance to the Queen of England, but will promptly deny or repudiate it. Compare abandon.