Repudiate (-t), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Repudiated (-td); p. pr. & vb. n. Repudiating.]
Etymology: [L. repudiatus, p. p. of repudiare to repudiate, reject, fr. repudium separation, divorce; pref. re- re- + pudere to be ashamed.]
1. To cast off; to disavow; to have nothing to do with; to renounce; to reject. Servitude is to be repudiated with greater care. Prynne.
2. To divorce, put away, or discard, as a wife, or a woman one has promised to marry. His separation from Terentis, whom he repudiated not long afterward. Bolingbroke.
3. To refuse to acknowledge or to pay; to disclaim; as, the State has repudiated its debts.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for repudiate; he lists it under abandon, renounce.
Where he writes about it:
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. — from renounce
He may deny his signature, disavow the act of his agent, disown his child; he may repudiate a just claim or a base suggestion. — from renounce
A native of the United States can not abjure or renounce allegiance to the Queen of England, but will promptly deny or repudiate it. — from renounce