abdication

[ab-di-key-shuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR abdication ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act or state of abdicating; renunciation.

Origin of abdication

First recorded in 1545–55, abdication is from the Latin word abdicātiōn- (stem of abdicātiō). See abdicate, -ion

Related formsnon·ab·di·ca·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for abdication

abandonment, quitclaim, retirement, renunciation, surrender, resignation, disclaimer, disavowal, demission

Examples from the Web for abdication

Contemporary Examples of abdication

And if anyone thought this was an abdication and a letting go of the unruly region they need to think again.
Eastern Ukraine Braces for ‘Full-Scale War’
Jamie Dettmer
November 17, 2014
Tuesday was declared a day to “Save the Nation,” and people across the country once again demanded the abdication of SCAF.
Ahdaf Soueif’s Cairo: Remembering A City Wracked By The Arab Spring
Ahdaf Soueif
January 26, 2014
So I made some records [Ed note: Life in Exile After Abdication is incredible] and toured and stuff.
Moe Tucker’s Tribute to Velvet Underground Bandmate Lou Reed
Harry Siegel
October 29, 2013
With the abdication of Queen Beatrix on Tuesday, the Dutch have a new queen—and a new fashion icon, as well.
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands Is a New Style Icon
Erin Cunningham
May 3, 2013
Bergoglio is 76 years old—nine years younger than Benedict at the time of his abdication.
Introducing Pope Francis, Your New Papa
Eliza Shapiro, Lizzie Crocker
March 14, 2013

Historical Examples of abdication

There had been a great reverse of fortune, an abdication, and a flight.
The Daltons, Volume II (of II)
Charles James Lever
It is the act of abdication, George—the moment of dethronement, that I could not face.
The Bramleighs Of Bishop's Folly
Charles James Lever
If you find that I am in the wrong my abdication shall be at your service.
The Traitors
E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
The fundamental condition of life is the innate heat, the abdication of which is death.
The Legacy of Greece
Various
They offered Italy to me as the price of my abdication: I refused it.
Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. I
Fleury de Chaboulon.

Word Origin and History for abdication

1550s, "a disowning," from Latin abdicationem (nominative abdicatio) "renunciation, abdication," noun of action from past participle stem of abdicare (see abdicate); sense of "resignation of sovereignty" is from 1680s.