renounce

[ri-nouns]

See more synonyms for renounce on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), re·nounced, re·nounc·ing.

to give up or put aside voluntarily: to renounce worldly pleasures.
to give up by formal declaration: to renounce a claim.
to repudiate; disown: to renounce one's son.

verb (used without object), re·nounced, re·nounc·ing.

Cards.
1. to play a card of a different suit from that led.
2. to abandon or give up a suit led.
3. to fail to follow the suit led.

noun

Cards. an act or instance of renouncing.

Origin of renounce

1325–75; Middle English renouncen < Middle French renoncer < Latin renūntiāre to bring back word, disclaim, equivalent to re- re- + nūntiāre to announce, derivative of nūntius messenger, news

Related formsre·nounce·a·ble, re·nun·ci·a·ble

[ruh-nuhn-see-uh-buhl, -shee-] /rəˈnʌn si ə bəl, -ʃi-/, adjectivere·nounce·ment, nounre·nounc·er, nounnon·re·nounc·ing, adjectiveself-re·nounced, adjectiveself-re·nounce·ment, nounself-re·nounc·ing, adjectiveun·re·nounce·a·ble, adjectiveun·re·nounced, adjectiveun·re·nounc·ing, adjectiveun·re·nun·ci·a·ble, adjective

Can be confuseddenounce renounce

Synonyms for renounce

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. forsake, forgo, forswear, leave, quit. See abandon¹. 2. resign, abdicate. 3. disclaim, reject, disavow, deny.

Antonyms for renounce

1. claim. 3. accept.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for renounce

relinquish, quit, deny, spurn, repudiate, waive, disavow, forgo, forswear, eschew, discard, disown, recant, forsake, decline, abdicate, dump, arrogate, abjure, defect

Examples from the Web for renounce

Contemporary Examples of renounce

If people could only renounce their hateful ideas, they could learn to love one another.
COEXIST’s Bonehead Bumper-Sticker Politics
Michael Schulson
December 21, 2014
Context: Rumored to be the last words of the French enlightenment writer, when a priest asked him to renounce Satan.
Tupac’s ‘F*ck You’ to a Cop and the Best Last Words
Marlow Stern
May 27, 2014
Unlike her brother, however, Laura does not renounce her love, but determines to hide it from view.
Lillian Smith’s Bombshell Novel About Interracial Love
Nathaniel Rich
May 25, 2014
Kuzenkov is the only humane Communist Party member in the book, which is another way of saying he must renounce the Party.
This 1979 Novel Predicted Putin’s Invasion Of Crimea
Michael Weiss
May 18, 2014
Louis looked at me with a startled air, but recovering himself said kindly, “Of course I renounce the—what is it I must renounce?”
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the Show
Robert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014

Historical Examples of renounce

Now my father is dead, I will have nothing to do with the world, and will renounce it for ever.
The Imaginary Invalid
Molire
She was to renounce her father and take the name of Bohun———.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
Will you undertake to make her renounce the earl, who, I believe, is the devil incarnate?
Maid Marian
Thomas Love Peacock
He renounced his country; but could not renounce his character.
Gomez Arias
Joaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso
Attend carefully then to this necessary deity, and renounce the other.
The Memoirs of Count Grammont, Complete
Anthony Hamilton

British Dictionary definitions for renounce

renounce

verb

(tr) to give up (a claim or right), esp by formal announcementto renounce a title
(tr) to repudiateto renounce Christianity
(tr) to give up (some habit, pursuit, etc) voluntarilyto renounce smoking
(intr) cards to fail to follow suit because one has no cards of the suit led

noun

rare a failure to follow suit in a card game

Derived Formsrenouncement, nounrenouncer, noun

Word Origin for renounce

C14: from Old French renoncer, from Latin renuntiāre to disclaim, from re- + nuntiāre to announce, from nuntius messenger

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for renounce

late 14c., from Old French renoncier "give up, cede" (12c., Modern French renoncer), from Latin renuntiare "bring back word; proclaim; protest against, renounce," from re- "against" (see re-) + nuntiare "to report, announce," from nuntius "messenger" (see nuncio). Related: Renounced; renouncing.