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renounce

[ri-nouns]
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verb (used with object), re·nounced, re·nounc·ing.
  1. to give up or put aside voluntarily: to renounce worldly pleasures.
  2. to give up by formal declaration: to renounce a claim.
  3. to repudiate; disown: to renounce one's son.
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verb (used without object), re·nounced, re·nounc·ing.
  1. 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.
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noun
  1. Cards. an act or instance of renouncing.
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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-buh l, -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

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

Antonyms

1. claim. 3. accept.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for renounce

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Now my father is dead, I will have nothing to do with the world, and will renounce it for ever.

  • 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.

British Dictionary definitions for renounce

renounce

verb
  1. (tr) to give up (a claim or right), esp by formal announcementto renounce a title
  2. (tr) to repudiateto renounce Christianity
  3. (tr) to give up (some habit, pursuit, etc) voluntarilyto renounce smoking
  4. (intr) cards to fail to follow suit because one has no cards of the suit led
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noun
  1. rare a failure to follow suit in a card game
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Derived Formsrenouncement, nounrenouncer, noun

Word Origin

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

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper